Saving Grace (And Jake)
by EL Hyland
Summary: Matt Casey receives custody of his niece, Grace, and nephew, Jake, after a horrible car accident. See how he deals with family drama and raising two 15 year old twins. Possibly some Hallie/Matt and Gabby/Matt drama. Comments and feedback are always welcomed, rudeness and insulting are not.
1. Chapter 1

Grace woke up to a ringing in her ears and a pain in her head. She blinked a few times, looking around with confusion before remembering what happened. She struggled to sit up and winced as she caught her reflection in the broken window. She clutched her side and took a few slow breaths. She could hear the sirens in the distance and knew help was on the way. She could vaguely hear people talking and she knew they must be with the people in the other car.

The sirens got closer and Grace could see the ambulance pull up. She could see her brother in the passenger seat and tried calling his name softly but he didn't respond. He wasn't moving and Grace could see he was badly hurt as they were hit on his side. She couldn't see her mother as she was sitting behind her but she wasn't moving either.

A paramedic was suddenly in front of her. He was young and Grace registered that he was good looking. He had opened the door and was talking to her but she wasn't listening, she could barely hear him. He was looking at her head and when he touched the cut she winched and came around.

"Does anything else hurt?"

"My ribs and my arm." She mumbled and turned towards her brother. "Jake."

"I've got him," the other paramedic said from the other side of the car. She locked eyes with Grace for a few seconds and smiled before checking on her brother. The fire trucks arrived on scene and distracted Grace. She turned her attention back to the female paramedic and caught her gaze again.

"Mills," she said. "I need you to go get Casey."

"Casey?" He frowned. "Don't you need squad?"

"Yeah we will, but I need you to get Casey." She pushed. "Grace, do you remember me? I work with Matt."

"Yeah," she nodded. "I remember you."

He frowned but got up and went to find Casey. He saw him, Severide and the Chief talking and he quickly approached them.

"Mills, what do we got?" Chief Boden asked.

"Two car collision, five victims, two unconscious and on trapped." He responded. "We need to get the door off."

The Chief nodded and turned to Severide. "Get your guys over there."

"Wait, Casey," Mills interrupted. "Dawson said to get you."

"Okay," Casey frowned. "Why does she need me?"

"I don't know but the girl in the car, I think Dawson knew her and she mentioned you."

"Who's the girl?"

"Her name is Grace."

Mills watched the fear creep into Casey's eyes and the panic come across his face. He took off towards the car and dropped to the ground in front of Grace and Dawson.

"Gracie," he said, pulling her into his arms and looking to Dawson for answers.

"She's okay," Dawson confirmed. "The cut on her head won't need stitches, she probably has a few broken ribs or at least bruised and a sprained wrist."

"Thanks Dawson," he nodded and he could see her hesitate. "What is it?"

"Jake's trapped in the car."

"What?" He gently pulled Grace back and went to see what was going on but she held onto him.

"No, Uncle Matt don't leave," She whined.

"Gracie, I need to help Jake okay?" She stared at him for a few seconds before nodding. "Stay with Dawson."

Casey ran over to the car and kneeled beside it. "Severide?"

"We're going to take the door off but he's starting to wake up."

Casey nodded. "I got it." He ran over to the driver's side and climbed in. "Jake?"

"Uncle Matt?" His voice was laboured and Casey could hear the pain in it.

"Hey buddy," he soothed. "They're going to get you out, okay? But I need you to stay calm."

"Where's Grace?"

"She's okay, she's already out of the car." Casey paused. "Your mom is out too."

"Matt," he shook his head. "She was drunk, probably high too."

"It's okay bud." Matt frowned, trying not to show his anger as he clenched his jaw.

"You can't let her take us back." He begged as they got the door off and started to pull him out. "Please Uncle Matt."

"Don't worry, Jake. I'll take care of it."

Casey came around the car and helped lift Jake onto the stretcher and into the ambulance. He looped an arm around Grace and pulled her close to him as Dawson and Mills worked on Jake. He shook his head, wondering how they could be going through this. They were just fifteen years old, they shouldn't have to deal with any of this.


	2. Chapter 2

Mills walked with Dawson into the hospital after shift. Casey had called to say Jake was having surgery and they wanted to keep him and Grace company for a bit. No one asked questions after that call or even talked about it. Most of them knew about Casey's family, but Peter Mills knew nothing and was curious.

"Are you happy to get back to being a firefighter?" Dawson said as they walked the halls.

"I'm always a firefighter," he grinned. "But yeah, it will be nice to fight fires again instead of crazy dogs."

Dawson returned the smile. "Hey, it's entertaining."

Mills was quiet for a few moments before bringing up the subject. "I didn't know Casey had a sister."

"Casey has two sisters, Christie and Sarah." Dawson explained. "Sarah is the oldest. She sort of dropped off the radar after their Dad died. She had newborn twins and a family that wouldn't stop fighting so she took off with her kids and her musician of a boyfriend."

"And she has drug problems?"

Dawson nodded. "Her boyfriend dragged them out to California a few years ago so he could play shows in a bunch of dive bars with his band. It started as a drinking problem and it got worse. He got her hooked on stuff too. Then he took off."

"Wow," Mills said as he shook his head. "How could you put your kids through that?"

"I don't know," Dawson shrugged. "But Casey had her convinced to come home. He told her he would pay for her rehab and watch the twins."

"So that's why she was here?"

"I hope so."

They rounded the corner and walked into the waiting room. Grace and Matt were sitting in chairs beside each other. She was showing him pictures on her phone and Dawson wasn't surprised that Matt had her smiling and sounding excited about something. He looked up when they walked in the room and he gave them a smile and a nod. Grace looked up and smiled weakly before slipping headphones into her ears and going back to looking at her phone.

"How's Jake?" Dawson asked, sitting down with Mills in the chairs across from Casey.

"He's going to be okay." Casey said with relief. "He was lucky, they removed his spleen but other than that they are no internal injuries. His shoulder is dislocated and he has a concussion but they said he'll be fine."

"And Sarah?"

Casey paused and briefly glanced at Grace. She didn't notice, Casey wasn't even sure if she was listening to their conversation. Mills noticed the hesitation and the exchange and interrupted.

"Do you or Grace want something to eat?" He asked. "I could take her and get you something?"

Casey hesitated again before reaching over and hitting pause on the game she was playing. She looked up at him with little emotion and Casey figured she had been listening. "Are you hungry?"

She shrugged. "Not really."

"I think you should go get something," He nodded at Mills. "This is Peter Mills, he helped you today, he'll take you."

"I don't want to go Uncle Matt," She whined slightly and he could see she was scared.

"I promise you I will be right here the whole time." He reassured. "I'm not going anywhere."

She studied his face before nodding. "Okay."

He grinned and nodded back, handing her a twenty. "Alright, get me something good."

She took the money and Casey watched until she disappeared done the hall with Mills. Once they turned the corner he turned his attention back to Dawson. "She's fine too. She got knocked out because she hit her head on the window so she has a concussion."

"Did they test her?"

Casey nodded. "Jake was right, she was drunk and they found drugs in the car."

"I thought she was coming to get help."

"I don't know," he shook his head. "Grace said they got here last night and stayed in a hotel. When she woke up this morning she was gone. She came home around ten, told them to get in the car because they were going to come visit me."

"Didn't she tell you she's been clean and sober for three months?"

"Yeah, and Grace said she was doing really well. She was going to meetings and everything." Casey said. "I guess she got here and panicked. She probably spent all night getting drunk and high, making new connections."

"What are you going to do?"

Casey shook his head again. "I don't know, but she needs help. The police put the twins in my temporary custody until she completes a program."

"How do you think she'll take it?"

"Honestly?" Casey asked. "I think she was getting ready to leave them with me anyway. The twins had their stuff packed, but none of her stuff was in the car."

Mills and Grace were standing in front of a few vending machines trying to figure out what to get. There wasn't much to choose from but it would work for now. He struggled trying to talk to her, she seemed withdrawn and he didn't blame her.

"So how old are you?" He asked

"We don't have to do this."

"Do what?"

"Have awkward small talk by playing twenty questions." She said looking at him. "I know they're talking about my mom and I know you probably know just about everything by now."

Mills stared at her for a moment before nodding his head. "Yeah, I know some stuff, but I wouldn't say I know everything."

"Well I don't want to talk about it."

"That's okay," he turned his attention back to the vending machines. "This is horrible food, my family owns a diner we could get everyone real food."

"I don't know."

"It's not far from here and it won't take long, I promise."

Grace hesitated, she didn't trust new people, but she figured real food might be worth it. "Okay."

"Okay?" He grinned as she nodded. "Alright, let's go."

The diner was only a five minute walk away from the hospital and Grace was glad she didn't have to get in a car. She knew it was normal to be shook up after an accident and she was. The diner only had a few people in it as it was after dinner. It was small and charming and Grace liked it. She walked up to the counter with him and he slipped behind it.

"This is my mom and my sister Elise," he gestured to the two women.

Grace smiled. "Hi, I'm Grace."

"Grace is Lieutenant Casey's niece." Mills paused when he noticed his mother looking her over. "She was in a car accident this morning."

"Oh no," Mrs. Mills gasped. "Is everyone okay?"

"Yes mam," Grace nodded. "We're all just fine."

"Pretty and polite, I bet you're smart too." Mrs. Mills smiled. "What can I get you?"

Grace looked to Mills. "I think we're just going to get a couple burgers and sandwiches with fries to take back to the hospital." He said and she nodded in agreement.

"My brother just got out of surgery; everyone is waiting around for him to wake up." She explained.

"Well we can certainly help the wait with providing good food."

Grace smiled. "Thank you."

It didn't take long for the three of them to prepare a few meals and get them packaged up. They were gone about half an hour in total when they strolled back into the waiting room. Dawson, Severide and Shay were all sitting with Casey. He looked up when they walked in carrying the food.

"Where did you go?" He asked as he got up to help them.

"I took her to the diner. I figured you guys might want real food." Mills paused. "That's okay right?"

"Yeah, thanks Mills."

Mills nodded and helped pass out the food. Grace was sitting between Casey and Dawson and everyone was silent as they ate. "How's the food?" Mills asked.

"Way better than a vending machine." Grace answered with a smile.

Mills smirked. "Told you."

"Mr. Casey?" A doctor interrupted. "Jake is awake and he's asking for you."


	3. Chapter 3

Casey walked by the windows of Jake's room with Grace beside him. He noticed her tense up when she saw him and it took everything in him not to do the same. Jake had cuts and bruises all over his face and it was swollen. His arm was in a sling and he was struggling to sit up, the pain clear on his face.

"Oh my God," Grace whispered, tears threatening to fall.

"It's okay," Casey said. "He's okay."

They walked into the room and pulled two chairs up beside his bed. Jake looked up with a smile. "How bad is it?"

"It could have been a lot worse." Casey said. "You'll be fine."

"And mom?"

Casey hesitated and looked from one twin to the other. "She's fine, she'll be released tomorrow morning when you are."

"So that's it?" Jake asked with a growing anger in his voice. "She almost kills us and nothing happens? I'm not going anywhere with her."

"Hey, settle down," Casey said. "She is not taking you anywhere. She's been charged with a DUI and she has to complete a ninety day program when she leaves here. After that, she'll go to court."

"So what about us?" Grace asked softly.

"Well I guess you're stuck with me." He said with a grin, trying to lighten the mood. "You're temporarily in my custody until she goes to court."

"But she can get us back?" Grace looked at Jake with a worry in her eyes.

"I don't know yet." Casey answered honestly.

Casey left Grace in the room with Jake as he made his way to his sister's room. He didn't particularly want to see her but she was still his sister and she needed him. Besides having some stitches and a few bruises on the side of her face that hit the window, she looked okay. But Casey could see she was a mess and going through withdrawals already.

Christie was standing at the end of her bed with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face. Casey had called her and let her know what was going on and he knew she was never going to let Sarah forget this. Christie held grudges, she was stubborn and strong willed and she never liked to see her family hurt. But the fact that she was here, instead of ignoring the situation like she did with their mother, meant she must care on some level.

"How could you do this?" She demanded. "They are your children Sarah! You almost killed them."

"You don't think I know that? You don't think I feel horrible about it?"

"Do you?" She urged. "Or are you happy the police took them away? Now you don't have to deal with them getting in the way of your problems."

"I came here to get help, Christie." She said. "Don't pretend you're some upstanding citizen, you abandoned the family just as much as I did. But at least I still talk to mom and Matt. I tried talking to you too."

"You only call when you need money."

He knocked softly on the door figuring this was a good time to interrupt. He lingered in the door way as they looked over at him. Christie just shook her head but Sarah smiled. "Hi Matt."

"Sarah," he nodded, walking in the room. "Christie."

"Matt," she nodded back. "Have anything to add?"

"Oh plenty I want to add," he said. "But screaming at her isn't going to do anything Christie."

"Unbelievable." She uncrossed her arms. "You're going to side with her after what she just put those kids through?"

"I'm not siding with anyone." He turned to Sarah. "But this should be your wake-up call. You need to get some help."

"I am getting help."

"I mean more than the mandated ninety days. I want you in a real program that is not voluntary so you can't just walk out whenever it gets too hard."

"Who's going to pay for that?" Christie said.

"I will." Matt said and Christie scoffed at him. "Christie, the best thing for those kids is to have a healthy mother." He turned back to Sarah. "If you don't stop this you will lose them and I don't mean lose custody, I mean really lose them. They're terrified Sarah and they're angry and I don't blame them."

"I'm scared too Matt," She said sincerely. "I want help. I promise I'm going to do it this time."

Matt gave her a nod of sympathy, he believed her. But Christie didn't. "And where will the twins be while you're getting help?"

"They're staying with Matt," Sarah confirmed. "That's why she's here; she wants the twins with her."

"I'm married and I have a child, Matt lives alone and has never even babysat."

"He's been there for the twins more than you have." Sarah defended.

"Probably more than you have too." Christie snapped.

"Okay, enough," Casey said firmly. "Christie, you can come see the twins anytime."

"I don't want them near her."

"See what I have to deal with?"

Casey sighed, wishing he had brothers. "You two never stop fighting. For once in your lives will you just listen to each other." He looked at both of them. "Christie, she wants the twins to stay with me, respect that. Sarah, Christie is their aunt and she wants to be a part of their lives, understand that."

Sarah nodded and turned to Christie. "Fine, you can spend time with them. I want them to stay with Matt because he has the room and the time for them. You already have a family and he is closer with them."

Christie was silent for a few seconds before responding. "I just want you to get help."

"There, it wasn't so hard to speak to each other like adults, was it?" Casey said. "Those kids are going to need all of us."

Casey left Sarah's room and brought Christie with him to Jake's room. She hadn't seen them for a few years but he figured they were old enough to remember her. Grace was still sitting in the chair and she was talking to Jake in a hushed voice. They looked up when they walked into the room and they both fell silent.

"Grace, Jake," Casey started. "You remember your Aunt Christie."

Grace smiled a bit and Jake just nodded. "How are you doing Jake?" She asked.

"I'm fine, just a little sore."

"Well I just wanted to come see how you two were doing," She paused looking to Casey. "Violet will probably want to see them at some point."

Casey nodded. "Jake gets out of the hospital tomorrow, we could all have dinner?"

"I'd like that." She smiled. "I'll see you guys later."

She walked out of the room and they were all silent for a few minutes. "Christie was really worried about you guys."

"I bet she was," Grace said sarcastically.

"Grace," Casey frowned. "She is your aunt, she wants to be involved and help out. We're having dinner with her tomorrow."

"She never called or came to visit like you did." Jake said.

"Maybe not, but she's trying now so give her a chance." They nodded. "Alright, we have to get going, before they kick us out. Visiting hours are over."

"Yeah get out, I need my beauty sleep." Jake smirked before looking at Casey seriously. "You'll be back tomorrow?"

"First thing," he nodded. "See you tomorrow bud."

"Bye Jake." Grace smiled as she squeezed his hand.

Grace and Casey left the room and walked down the hall towards the exit. He looked down at Grace as they walked and nudged her. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she half smiled. "Just funny how fast things change. Yesterday she wakes us up and tells us were flying out to surprise you. We get here, she rents a car, gets a hotel, everything was going well and then she disappears for the night."

Casey held a frown as she told the story. "I know, I'm sorry Grace. I didn't know you were coming, I could have stopped all of this."

"I should have called you when she took off. I knew something was wrong, we both did, but we got in the car anyway. We figured we just had to get her to you and you could help."

Casey nodded and turned to her as they reached the truck. "I am going to help."

Grace smiled and climbed into the passenger side. The drive home was pretty silent, they were both lost in their own thoughts. Grace was wondering how her life was going to change and Casey wondered how he was going to make this all work.

He pulled into the driveway and helped her out of the truck. She had two bruised ribs and a sprained wrist so she was pretty sore. She looked at the house and smiled. She had spent her childhood in and out of apartments so she had never had a house to call home. She hoped this would be it.

"New place?" She asked.

"Yeah, just moved in a little while ago, lots of work to do." He hesitated, regretting telling her any bad news. "Hallie and I broke up."

"Oh," she said, sounding surprised. "Why?"

"She didn't want kids." He stated simply.

Grace was silent for a minute before she started laughing. "Guess she really dodged a bullet then."

Casey grinned back at her. "Two actually."


	4. Chapter 4

Casey was a light sleeper, especially since he had been living alone. He was also used to getting up early and he rarely slept in. He always thought it had something to do with his job; he was constantly on alert. Not to mention that the house was old so the floors and stairs creaked and the door knobs were squeaky. He heard her the minute she opened her bedroom door. He thought she might have to use the bathroom, but then he heard her go down the stairs.

He could navigate the halls and stairs without making much noise and she was too distracted with her own thoughts to realize she had woken him up. Casey wasn't sure if he was curious or worried, maybe both. He stopped a couple stairs down and watched her.

She was in the living room sitting on the bay window ledge and staring out into the empty street watching the sun rise. She had her knees curled up to her chest with her arms wrapped around them. Even from the staircase he could see her crying a bit.

He descended down the stairs and crossed the distance from the bottom of the stairs to the living room rather quickly. He was quiet and she didn't notice him until he was only a few feet away. She stared at him for a moment before wiping at her tear streaked face. Casey sat down beside her and pulled her into his arms.

"What's wrong Gracie?" He asked as he rested his chin on the top of her head. "Come on sweetheart, talk to me."

"I'm scared." She mumbled into his chest with fresh tears falling.

"You've got nothing to be scared about. I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

She was silent for a few moments before speaking again. "We lied to you."

Casey frowned and pulled back a little to look down at her. "About what?"

"About Mom," She said with a pause. "And Dad."

His frown only deepened. "What's going on?"

"Mom finally kicked Dad out about three months ago when she decided to get sober. She was doing well until he called. He told her he wasn't using anymore, had a steady job and that he missed us. So she went to meet him for dinner and was gone all night with him. They came home together drunk and he was all beat up from some bar fight over drugs. He needed a place to stay and she gave it to him. It went back to the way it's always been and we couldn't take it anymore so Jake and I left."

"What do you mean you left?"

"We packed up all our stuff one night and took off in her car. They were on another bender and we had a good twelve hour start when she first called."

"You drove here?" Casey exclaimed. "That's a thirty hour drive, how did you get the money?"

"We both worked this summer and we saved because we were planning it."

"Planning to leave?"

She nodded. "They were never going to change. You don't know how bad it got sometimes."

"Why didn't you just call me and tell me then?"

"We tried," she said. "We figured you'd talk us out of it but if we showed up in Chicago maybe you'd see how desperate we were to get away."

"So how did your Mom get out here?"

"She flew out here and met us at the hotel. She showed up and we knew she was probably drunk or high but she actually broke down. She said she ruined everything and all her progress and she wanted to get help this time. She told us you were going to help and begged us to get in the car."

"It's not your fault," Casey stated simply. "I don't know why you just didn't tell me all that in the first place."

"I didn't want you to know how bad it was, but after I saw Jake," Grace looked away again.

"Hey, look at me," He said and waited for her to meet his gaze. "I'm here to protect you, not the other way around. I need to know what's going on to do that."

"Jake's afraid that she'll take off with him again." She paused again. "I'm afraid he'll try to get us taken away from you."

"I won't let that happen." Casey pulled her back into a hug, resting his chin on the top of her head and hugging her tightly against his chest. "How about we go get Jake and then get some breakfast?"

They both went back upstairs to get ready for the day. Casey was ready rather quickly and although Grace was quicker than most mornings, she was still pretty slow. Casey forgot how long it took teenage girls to get ready. He figured the cut and bruising on her face didn't help her self-esteem either.

She had nothing to worry about, she was a beautiful girl. She had long golden brown hair with hazel eyes and had an athletic build. She had the Casey personality, but she looked like her Dad. Jake on the other hand had Casey written all over him. With the blonde hair, blue eyes and lean muscle-build, he looked a lot like Matt did at his age.

She finally stumbled down the stairs wearing jeans and a black zip up sweater with a white tank top underneath. Her hair was straightened and she had put make-up on to cover up the bruises and try to draw attention to her eyes by wearing a little extra mascara.

Casey had seen many teenage girls wearing very thick make-up and he didn't like it. He was glad she didn't wear her make-up like that but even the small amount she had on was bothering him. He wasn't used to her looking so much older and mature.

"Are we going to the diner that paramedic slash firefighter works at?" She tried to ask casually.

Casey tried to hide his smile. She fully knew what his name was and now he understood why it took her so long to get ready. "Peter Mills? Yeah, we could go there. Do you want to go there?"

She shrugged. "I guess."

"Alright, let's go."

Casey tried to hide another smile as he grabbed his keys and walked towards the door. They arrived at the hospital a little early and Casey went to fill out the release forms. Jake was getting a final check -up so that left Grace standing outside in the hall alone. Their mother had already left for rehab and wouldn't be allowed visitors for two weeks, which didn't bother either twin as they didn't really feel like talking to her just yet.

"Hey Grace," Grace looked up to see Hallie smiling at her. "How are you?"

Grace smiled back, she had always liked Hallie. "I'm good, you?"

"I'm good, thanks. I heard about what happened, how are you doing?"

Grace shrugged. "We should be okay now that Matt is helping."

She nodded. "So you're staying with him while your mom is in rehab then?"

"Yeah, Jake is getting released so we're going out for breakfast."

"Well if you need anything or need a girl to talk to," She smiled again. "Matt and I aren't together but I'll still be here for you if you need me."

"Thanks Hallie, I appreciate it. I'm sure there will be things I can't talk to Matt about or things he won't want to do with me, like shopping."

"Well anytime you want to have a shopping date just give me a call." Hallie laughed. "I've got to get back to rounds, feel better."

Grace smiled and nodded as she walked away. She turned back and saw Casey coming towards her with the paperwork. He stopped in front of her watching Hallie walk away before looking at her. "Ready to go?"

The doctor came out and took the forms from Casey as a nurse emerged with an unhappy Jake in a wheel chair. "They won't let me walk."

"Hospital policy, bud." Casey grinned walking alongside him. "We were thinking about going out for breakfast."

"Oh thank God, the only thing worse than hospital food is Grace's cooking." Jake joked, nudging his sister.

"Well good thing Uncle Matt can cook then." She smiled back at him.

They walked into the dinner and Grace smiled at Elise who was serving an elderly couple in the booth beside the door. She looked behind the counter and smiled a little brighter when she saw Peter Mills. He smiled back and Casey noticed the exchange and nodded to Mills. They grabbed a booth towards the back and Mrs. Mills came up behind Casey just as he was sliding in beside Grace.

"Lt. Casey, Grace," She smiled warmly and turned to Jake. "This is the brother I presume?"

Jake nodded. "Yes mam."

She smiled and turned to Casey. "They are both extremely polite. You don't see that as much now days with the younger generation. It's nice to know there are still some with manners."

"They know to mind their manners." Casey nodded. "How are you Mrs. Mills?"

"I'm sure they do with someone like you in their life and I'm doing just fine dear. How are all of you?"

"We're getting along." He smiled. "I might need the whole station to keep an eye on these two though."

"Anytime you need anything you just let me know."

"I will, thank you."

She smiled and nodded at him. "I'll get Elise to take your order."

Elise came and took the order quickly as they were busy, much to Grace's disappointment as she was hoping Mills would come over and visit. The food arrived and Casey caught her several times watching Mills. He tried not to laugh or tease her but watching a teenage girl with a hopeless crush was just too entertaining.

"I thought you liked Severide?" He leaned down and whispered.

She shrugged. "He's old now."

"We're the same age!" Casey said with shock at being declared old in the eyes of his niece.

"Yeah, old." She grinned back at him and he just shook his head not able to keep the smile off his face. "Well that was never going to go anywhere, he's too much older, but Mills is closer to my age."

"Not that much closer sweetheart." He said a little serious. "He's too old for you too."

"Oh let her have her harmless inappropriate crushes," Jake said. "She liked our history teacher last semester and she got over it. It's a chick thing to go after the older guys."

Casey just grinned at his nephew. "Both of you eat. We have a long day ahead of us."

"Doing what?"

"We need to get you moved in, enrolled in school and get you school supplies. I go back to work tomorrow and school starts next week so this needs to be taken care of today."

"Well we can move our stuff in when you're at work tomorrow." Jake said.

"No you can't, you'll be coming with me."

"Uncle Matt we aren't five," Grace said as she rolled her eyes.

"I'm well aware of how old you are. I was there." He looked at her. "Don't roll your eyes at me."

"We can stay at home by ourselves is what she meant." Jake explained.

"I know what she meant, the answer is no. The only way I know you'll be safe is to have you at the station with me so that is where you'll be. End of discussion."


	5. Chapter 5

Casey walked into the firehouse the next morning with the twins. It was early and they were tired. He couldn't blame them for not wanting to be there all day but he needed to know they were okay and they weren't doing something they weren't supposed to. They used to love coming to work with him when they were younger, but everything was more exciting when you were young.

Casey went to drop his stuff off in the locker room and the twins rounded the corner of the kitchen and walked into a room full of overly cheery firefighters. Grace immediately perked up when she saw Mills behind the counter cooking breakfast but Jake wasn't overly enthused. He was still sore from the accident and he just wanted to spend the last few days of summer vacation sleeping.

"Hey guys," Severide gave Grace a one armed hug before reaching over and squeezing Jake's shoulder. He could tell Jake wasn't happy and had an attitude. "How you doing slugger?"

Jake shrugged. "I'd be a whole lot better if I got to stay home."

"Jake," Casey warned as he walked into the room.

"It's not that bad here," he grinned before turning to Grace. "And you, I heard you said I was old."

Grace couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. "Well, if the shoe fits."

"Oh you think you're funny," Severide smirked before lunging at her and throwing her over his shoulder with ease. "Not so old now, am I?"

"Now you're just a bully!" She shrieked with laughter. "Put me down Kelly!"

"No way, I'm going to carry you around all day to prove how young and fit I am."

"Uncle Matt help!" She yelled.

Casey just laughed at her. "You got yourself in this mess sweetheart."

Grace shifted, trying to wiggle free of his hold when she hit her ribs on his shoulder and gasped. "No seriously Kelly, put me down."

He noticed her change of tone and quickly put her down. "You okay?" he asked with concern as she clutched her side.

"Yeah," she smiled through the dwindling pain. "Sore spot."

Casey was immediately by her side. "Are you sure?" He turned to Dawson. "Will you look at her?"

"I'm fine, Uncle Matt." Grace shook her head.

"Just let her look, for me okay?" he pleaded and Grace nodded.

"Come on," Dawson said and led her down the hall to the bathroom. Grace lifted his shirt and Dawson was a little surprised to see the amount of bruising that wrapped around her side. "How bad did that hurt?"

Grace shrugged. "It only hurt for a few seconds."

"This bruising," She paused, noting the colouring as she realized it was on the other side. "Is this from the accident?"

"What?" Grace frowned. "Of course."

"All of it?"

Grace hesitated as she looked at Dawson. "You can't tell Matt. He'll go crazy."

"Grace, what is this from?"

"It was an accident." She shook his head. "He was drunk and he didn't mean to push me that hard."

"Who pushed you?"

"My Dad," She mumbled.

"What did he push you into?"

"The counter in the kitchen. I was trying to get him to leave." Grace sighed. "You can't tell Matt."

"Grace, he should know."

"Gabby, please." Grace begged.

Dawson sighed and nodded. "Okay, but you need to let me know if it gets worse."

Grace nodded and they made their way back into kitchen for breakfast. Everyone was already seated and Grace was momentarily conflicted between the open seat beside Casey and the one beside Mills. Her hesitation went unnoticed as she slipped into the seat between Severide and Casey.

"You okay?" Casey asked as he put an arm over the back of her chair.

"Yes, I'm just fine, like I told you." She smiled.

He looked over to Dawson for confirmation and she nodded. Casey seemed to accept that answer but a red flag went up when he noticed an exchange between Dawson and Grace and then Grace and Jake. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was going on but he didn't have time to question it as a call came through.

"You two stay here," Casey said firmly, looking at each twin.

The twins nodded and continued to eat as everyone around them got up and rushed out the door. The Chief was coming out of his office and noticed the two sitting at the table. He paused for a moment in the doorway before speaking up. "What are you two doing?"

"Matt told us to stay here." Jake sighed.

"I don't think he'll have a problem if you ride with me," he nodded. "Come on."

Grace grinned at Jake and they got up to follow the Chief. "If he gets mad, it's on you."

Chief Boden smiled down at Grace. "I think I can handle him."

They climbed into the back of the vehicle and followed the trucks up to the apartment building on fire. It was only about five floors but it was burning pretty good and there were people trapped inside. They climbed out of the vehicle and Boden went to the scene, telling the twins to stay at the car. They leaned against it and watched everything.

Jake found it fascinating. Matt had told him many stories and shown him everything at the firehouse but it was nothing like watching it in person. He found it exciting and he was overwhelmed with this feeling of wanting to help. Grace found it nerve wracking. She didn't like watching Casey run into burning buildings, even if he was saving people. The thought of losing him made her scared each time he disappeared inside.

It took a lot longer than they expected but they both patiently waited by the car like they were told. Casey eventually made his way over with Severide and the Chief after the flames were under control and everyone was safe. Engine took over with the hoses and truck and squad's job was done.

"Chief Boden said we could watch." Jake blurted out. "It was awesome."

"Looks like we might have another Casey fighting fires soon." Severide said. "Hopefully this one has enough sense to join squad."

Casey smirked. "We'll see about that." He eyed Grace who was still leaning against the SUV with her arms wrapped around herself. "Grace, what'd you think?"

"It scared her." Jake answered for her. "But I thought it was so cool!"

"Fires are serious business Jake, it's not a game." Chief Boden explained. "You think it's all excitement and glory of saving people but it's hard work and you see a lot of stuff you can never erase. You want in on this job, you need to understand that."

"Yes sir," Jake said as Casey messed up his hair before throwing an arm around Grace.

"I'm okay," he clarified, knowing what she was thinking. "It's my job."

"I know." She smiled weakly. "It's just hard to watch you."

He squeezed her shoulder. "Let's get back to the firehouse."

"Hey Jake," Severide called. "Want to ride with squad?"

Jake turned to Casey, silently begging. "Go ahead," he grinned and watched Jake follow Severide like an excited puppy. "You want to come with me?"

"Sure," she smiled and followed him to the truck. He lifted her up and, to her delight, Mills helped her inside and get seated beside him. Casey tried to hide his smile as he watched her; it was good to see her smiling again.

"Grace has a crush on Mills, huh?" Herrmann said when Casey turned around.

"Oh yeah," Casey laughed. "Don't let her hear you talking about it though."

"I've got daughters of my own," he grinned. "I wouldn't dream of it."

Casey climbed in to hear Mills explaining some things to Grace. "Cruz drives and then Casey sits up front because he's the Lt. and the rest of us are back here."

"That hardly seems fair," She said. "Hey Uncle Matt, why do you always ride shotgun?"

"Because he's the boss," Cruz yelled, sharing a grin with Casey.

The ride back to the firehouse was anything but silent. It wasn't a long drive but Grace wished it would have been a bit longer so she could continue talking to Mills. He helped her out of the truck and they all went to the locker room to change. Grace and Jake followed Dawson and Shay back to the kitchen to wait for everyone else.

"How's your brother doing?" Casey asked Cruz when they were putting their gear away.

"He's really changed his life around," Cruz smiled. "I'm proud of him."

"That's good to hear." Casey nodded.

"Yeah, but raising a teenager isn't easy. I've found new respect for my parents." Cruz said with a laugh. "And I only have one to deal with."

"I figure I can handle Jake, it's Grace I'm worried about." Casey admitted. "There's going to be things I just can't help her with or talk to her about. That scares the hell out of me."

"Every father feels that way," Herrmann said. "It's nothing new."

"But there's no mother to balance it out."

"You'll figure it out," Herrmann reassured. "You've been around those kids their whole lives and you're more of a father to them than anyone."

Casey nodded and made his way back to the kitchen. Grace was sitting on the counter watching and helping Mills cook. Casey smiled to himself remembering how she used to do that when she was younger. Jake was sitting on the couch with a less than amused look on his face watching the t.v.

"Hey," Casey stood beside him. "Come with me."

Jake sighed but followed his uncle down the hall and into his office. Casey closed the door behind them and turned to Jake. "What's going on?"

"Nothing."

Casey shook his head. "Jake, I know something is bothering you."

"I don't have to tell you every detail of my life." He said angrily. "You're not my Dad."

"No, I'm not." Casey said calmly. "But I am your uncle and your guardian. It's my responsibility to take care of you so if something is wrong and I can help – "

"You can't help."

"Try me."

"I don't want to talk about it." Jake crossed his arms.

Casey crossed his arms as well. "Well tough, we aren't going anywhere until you start talking. You've got one hell of an attitude today and I want to know why."

Jake took a step towards the door but Casey blocked him and raised his eyebrows. "Do you seriously think you can go through me? Or that I'll just let you walk away when there's something clearly upsetting you?"

Jake glared at him and sat down on the bed. "I can't play football."

Casey frowned as he pulled the desk chair out and sat down. "Because of your shoulder?"

Jake nodded. "When you met with the principal yesterday I ran into the football coach. He said I couldn't even try out. I was an all-state running back last year."

"Jake you're fifteen, you can play next year."

"I can't miss a year. I'll drop off the college scout lists. I'm not smart like Grace; I need football to get into college. My parents are alcoholics and drug addicts, there is no money, so we need scholarships."

"You don't have to worry about college money, if you want to go, I'll figure it out."

Jake stared at Casey blankly. "It's a lot of money."

"I know that." Casey grinned. "But education is important and you two are worth it."

"Thanks," he said softly. He wasn't used to having an adult in his life that cared so much. "I still want to play football though."

"And you will," Casey nodded. "Just maybe not this year."

"What if they say I can't play anymore?" Jake asked with a worried expression.

"Don't get ahead of yourself." Casey said. "It will take some time and you will have to do physiotherapy but your shoulder will be back to normal in a few months."

"And if it's not?"

"Then we'll deal with it as a family."

A/N: If you're reading this, let me know what you thought of the chapter and the story so far.

Reviews make writers happy, happy writers write more often.


	6. Chapter 6

Casey was making breakfast as the twins got ready for their first day of school. He sipped his coffee as he cooked the eggs and waited for them to make their way downstairs. Jake was first, even with his arm in a sling he was still a lot faster than Grace. He looked simple with jeans on and a zip up navy sweater over a white t-shirt. He sat down at the table and sighed heavily, catching Casey's attention.

"Can't I just wait until my arm is better before I go back to school?"

"Sorry bud, but you can't miss that much school." He said throwing Jake a look of sympathy over his shoulder as he continued to cook.

"No one is going to want to be friends with the gimp kid."

Casey turned around and frowned. "You're not a gimp. Besides, girls love injured guys, show them your scars."

"I don't think they'll be impressed with my injury from a car accident because my alcoholic mother couldn't stay sober."

"They don't know you, Jake." Casey said as he handed him some eggs and toast. "You don't have to tell them your life story."

"Are you saying we can make it up?" Grace walked into the kitchen wearing a skimpy sun dress and a little too much makeup.

"Oh no," Casey pointed to the stairs. "Go change."

Grace rolled her eyes and grabbed some orange juice. "Uncle Matt this is how people dress in the twenty-first century."

"Not my niece." He shook his head. "Put a sweater on or change into jeans. And take some of the makeup off."

"Uncle Matt – "

"Grace. Upstairs. Now."

She sighed dramatically and reluctantly stomped back up the stairs. "Does she always dress like that?"

"No," Jake said with confusion before it dawned on him. "Oh, she's testing you."

"Testing me?" Casey raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, to see if you care."

"Well I do care," He eyed Jake. "You know that right?"

"Well yeah," Jake gestured around him. "We aren't in a foster home so I'd say you care."

Casey sat down with Jake and they started to eat. Grace reappeared a few minutes later without the eye shadow, eyeliner or lip stick and a cardigan over the dress. Casey gave her a nod and smiled at her to which his surprise, she returned. They were running a bit late so they ate quickly and in silence. Casey cleared the table as they grabbed their lunches and their bags and headed out to the truck. Casey grabbed his jacket, locked the door and climbed into the truck.

He made his way to the school, wondering if he should make some sort of first day speech to them. Tell them to be themselves, people will like them and not to worry. They were quiet, they weren't even fighting over the radio and he figured it was because they were nervous. He pulled up to the school and turned to them.

"You'll be fine," He reassured, deciding against a big speech. "Stick together and don't get into any trouble. If I can't pick you up, take the bus to the firehouse."

They nodded and climbed out of the truck. Casey watched them go for a few minutes until they disappeared inside. He made his way to work and hoped they'd be okay. He walked into the firehouse to find Dawson climbing out of the back of the ambulance. He waited for her by the door and they walked together up to the kitchen.

"Hey," she smiled. "Drop the twins off at school?"

He nodded. "I almost feel guilty; they really didn't want to go."

"Starting a new school in grade ten can't be easy, but they have each other."

"Yeah and I hope it goes well. Jake is upset because he can't play football and Grace came down this morning with way too much make up on and this skimpy little dress. I think she was trying to make some sort of impression but it would have been a bad one."

Dawson laughed. "Did you jump right into awkward parent mode?"

"Oh you bet, told her to go put a sweater on and wipe the makeup off her face," He grinned. "I swear I sounded just like my Dad when he talked to Sarah or Christie."

"She was probably just testing you."

"That's what Jake said," He frowned. "Do girls actually do that?"

"Of course, all girls of all ages." She confirmed. "Like when a girl calls you when she is drunk and needs a ride, she could easily take a cab but she wants to know you care enough to come get her."

"Well I do care," he insisted. "I didn't think I had to prove it."

"I'd be more worried about Jake," she said. "He's going to test how far he can push you."

"He better not, he won't like what happens."

Grace and Jake

The twins were lucky their lockers were side by side and they had all their classes together. They figured Matt must have requested it and Grace was especially glad for that. She didn't know what she would do if she had to face a new school by herself. They found their first class easily as it was across the hall from their lockers.

It was a good thing that it was the first day because they didn't have to go through any awkward introductions or meet and greets. Grace took a seat in the second desk of the first row and Jake sat behind her. They both noticed a few people staring at them and it made Grace feel uncomfortable. Jake tried to ignore it and acted like he didn't care, but he did. At their old school, Jake was a hot shot football star, everyone liked him and everyone wanted to either be his friend or date him. Grace wasn't as popular but she still had a great group of friends and she got along with most people.

"Are you guys new?" The blonde girl in the seat beside Jake asked.

Jake nodded. "Yeah, I'm Jake and this is my sister Grace."

"You're twins?" She said a little excited. Grace would never understand what the fascination was with people finding out she was a twin. "I'm Claire."

"Yeah, we're twins." Jake answered again.

"What happened to your arm?" The guy sitting in front of the girl asked.

"This is my boyfriend, Nick." Claire said with a smile.

"Nice to meet you," Jake nodded. "And it was a car accident."

"That's awful," Claire said and turned around to nudge her friend. "Rachel, did you meet Jake? He was in a car accident."

"Oh my God," She said. "Are you okay?"

Jake grinned, starting to believe his uncle. "Yeah, I'm fine. Other than the fact that I can't play football."

"Tough break man," Nick said. "When will it be healed?"

"About six weeks."

"Right in time for basketball season," he said. "You should try out."

"Yeah thanks, I might."

"Do you play any sports?" Claire asked Grace.

"Not really, I used to dance."

"Oh, that's perfect!" She exclaimed. "You should join cheerleading. We have a few spots open and all these ugly grade nines with no experience are trying to sign up."

"It's true," Rachel nodded. "We could use a dancer and you're gorgeous."

"I don't know," Grace said. "I've never cheered before, just danced, and I'm not good at auditions."

"You don't have to audition," Claire said. "Rachel and I are co-captains, we make all the decisions. Besides, we can bring you on a choreographer, we don't have one and we need one."

"I guess I could do that."

"Great!" Claire smiled and turned back to Jake. "You guys should sit with us at lunch."

Jake nodded and they all fell silent as the class started. Grace was a little skeptical, she had horrible trust issues and she thought that friendship was a little too easy and happened a little too fast. It's sad that friendly behaviour is linked with suspicion now days but Grace couldn't help it.

By the end of the day, Grace had made friends with Claire and her group and Jake with Nick and his group, which basically consisted of the cheerleaders and the basketball team. At their old school, football had been what everyone was into but here, basketball seemed to reign over everything.

They made their way outside but Matt wasn't there. They waited for a few minutes before they overheard a group of kids talking about an apartment fire a few blocks over. They followed the group of kids that were heading over to watch and could see the smoke as soon as they rounded the corner.

The twins stood out front of the yellow tape and watched with the growing crowd. Grace searched for Matt but she couldn't see him and she figured he must be inside. They spotted him moments later gathered around the door with many of the other firefighters. Shay and Dawson were ready out front and Grace figured they must be coming out with someone.

Boden emerged from the apartment carrying a young boy. The boy wasn't moving and he had severe burns on his arm and chest. Grace and Jake watched as he was put on the stretcher and Shay and Dawson tried to bring him back. Everyone was silent, just watching and hoping to see him come back, but he was gone.

Dawson looked at the Chief and shook her head. Grace watched as everyone seemed to collapse around the Chief, this was a tough call, but it seemed almost personal to Grace. She continued to watch until Dawson and Shaw removed the body and put it into the ambulance. Casey approached the Chief and stood with him for a few minutes.

Severide noticed the twins watching, frozen at the unfolding scene. He went over to the tape and lifted it up to let them through. Casey noticed them with Severide and made his way over. When Casey got close enough, Grace went straight into his arms. Watching a kid that young die like that was hard for her, but it was harder for Casey. He pulled Jake into the embrace as well and tried to hold it together. Losing one of them would be his worst fear.

"Are you guys okay?"

"Yeah," Jake nodded. "Who was that?"

"He was a kid that came around the station a few times." Casey nodded towards the truck. "Come on."

When they got back to the firehouse, the twins followed Mills who offered to make them a snack. Dawson was still a little shaken, as was everyone else, as she restocked the ambulance with Shay. She watched the guys put their gear away and head in and out of the locker room. When she was finished she went to Casey's office. He was at his desk filling out the report. She knocked and he waved her in.

"I need to talk to you." She said. "It's about Grace."


	7. Chapter 7

Casey gestured for Dawson to sit down but she refused. He studied her face and saw a slew of emotions; worry, regret, nervousness. This wasn't going to be good, Dawson doesn't overreact so whatever she needed to say, wasn't good.

"With this job sometimes we see things, things that we can't imagine are possibly going on, things that we can't imagine ever doing to other people, especially kids." She sighed as she tried to explain. "When the Chief brought Ernie out and it was obvious what had happened to him, I couldn't believe someone would do that to a kid. I know you felt the same way too."

"Dawson," Casey held up his hand and shook his head to stop her. "What is it?"

"The other day, when you had me check Grace," She hesitated. "There were some bruises that weren't from the accident."

Casey's face darkened as he realized what Dawson was trying to tell him. "What?"

"I told her I wouldn't say anything to you, she said it was just the one time and it was an accident, but I don't think it was and I think you need to talk to them."

Casey ran a hand over his face and then leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. "How horrible is it to say this doesn't surprise me? I knew something else was wrong."

"How could you have known that?"

"Sarah didn't bring them out here," Casey said as he looked up from the floor. "Grace told me that their Dad moved back in and they were both out of control so her and Jake left. I knew there was more, I could feel it, it was written all over her face but I didn't push her on it."

"You can't blame yourself, Matt." She said. "Do you think Sarah knew?"

"I don't know," he shook his head honestly. "For her sake, I hope not."

"What do you mean?"

"Grace told me she was afraid her Dad was going to come back, if I report this he won't be able to come near them but if Sarah knew what was going on, she won't be able to come near them either."

"So what are you going to do?"

Grace was sitting on the counter watching Mills make dinner. He was making chicken parmesan and it smelled amazing. He had her grating cheese and was teaching her a few things as he got little to no help with food preparation. He was well aware of her crush, he thought it was cute but he did his best not to send her any wrong messages. At this point, Grace would settle for him as an older brother figure.

Jake was with Severide in the weight room. They had bonded over their injured shoulders and Severide was showing Jake some simple exercises that could help him heal faster. Jake wished Matt had the time to teach him things like this and spend time with him but he was busy with paperwork and getting used to being the parent. Jake found it ironic that before all the responsibility, Matt was the fun uncle and now Severide was acting like the fun uncle.

Casey left his office with Dawson close behind him and made his way into the kitchen. The minute they walked in Grace looked over and was met with a look of sympathy from Dawson. She frowned, confused, until she saw the unhappy look on her uncle's face. She knew what had happened and she wasn't happy about it. She jumped off the counter just as Casey crossed the room to meet her.

He handed her jacket to her. "Come with me, Grace."

She took her jacket and followed Casey out of the room, ignoring Dawson on her way. She had reached out to touch Grace's arm to offer an apology but Grace yanked away from her touch with a glare. She silently followed Casey out of the building and into his truck before curiosity got the best of her.

"Where are we going?"

"To the hospital." He said simply as he started the truck and began driving.

"What? Why?"

"You know why," Casey sent a stern look her way. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"It's not a big deal."

"It IS a big deal Grace," He said with a raised voice. "I told you I needed to know everything and you lied right to my face."

"I didn't lie, I just didn't tell you."

"It's the same damn thing," he snapped. "You're afraid your Dad will come back? Well this information would have easily kept him away."

"It happened to me, it is my problem. If I don't want to talk about it, you can't force me. I never should have told Gabby the Blabby Mouth."

"Hey," Casey said firmly. "This is not her fault. She was only looking out for you. And in case you forgot, you are my responsibility now."

"Yeah now," she said, starting to get angry. "You weren't there when this happened. You weren't even around when all this went on and you have no idea what we went through."

"That is not fair Grace and you know it." Casey said as he pulled into the hospital parking lot and parked the truck. "I would have been there if I could, she moved you away."

"And you let her take us!" Grace yelled in anger. "You think it was bad when we lived here? It wasn't even close to what went on in L.A."

"Grace," Casey said more calmly. "You know that I wanted to be there and if I could have, I would have been. All you had to do was call and I would have come and got you two." Grace glared out the window, not trusting her emotions to talk right now. "Okay, here is what we are going to do. Hallie is inside, she will examine you and fill out a report that will go to the police. Then we are going to pick up Jake and the three of us are going to talk."

Grace climbed out of the truck with Casey following beside her. Hallie met them at the door and guided Grace into an examining room. Casey stayed out in the hall, taking a few deep breaths and trying to figure everything out.

"Don't be mad at him, Grace." Hallie said as she checked her ribs. "He's scared and it's coming out mad, but the anger isn't directed at you."

Grace wiped a few stray tears. "I didn't want him to know, I didn't want anyone to know."

"I know," Hallie nodded. "How did this happen?"

"They were out of alcohol and she wanted to get more but I took his keys. I had already hid hers but forgot about his. She started fighting with me but she wasn't strong enough. He came out of nowhere and shoved me into the counter, I dropped the keys and they got what they wanted."

"That was the night you left?"

Grace nodded. "Jake came home from work and I couldn't stay there anymore."

"So that was the first time?"

Grace looked at Hallie for a few moments before shaking her head. "No, but it was the last time."

Hallie gave her a look of sympathy. She helped her sit up and hugged her, which made Grace start to cry. "It's okay, Grace. Matt isn't going to let anything happen to you or Jake. You have to trust him though, he's going to help you."

"I know, but he gets so angry." Grace said when they separated.

Hallie smiled at her. "Never at you. I'll get him."

Hallie opened the stepped out into the hall to talk to Casey. He stood up when he saw her but she gestured for him to sit back down. He did, and she sat next to him. She smiled before she began, she had missed him and even if it meant something this serious, she still liked seeing him.

"She's okay," She explained. "But you need to talk to her and Jake."

"It wasn't the first time was it?" Hallie shook her head with her mouth in a tight line. "Damn it."

"I don't know how bad it was, but that little girl in there, she may not be so little anymore but she still needs you."

"I don't understand why she didn't tell me."

"Abused kids," Hallie paused when Casey shot her a look. "Unfortunately Matt that is what the twins are, and neglected too. Kids like them, they don't like talking about it, it's just too hard. She probably figured she was safe with you and she could forget it."

"She told Gabby, and she talked to you."

Hallie nodded. "I think on some level she wanted you to know because she knew you would help."

"I don't know about that," Matt shook his head. "She was really angry."

"And now she's crying," Hallie said. "Matt, she's just a kid and she's scared."

"What am I supposed to do Hallie? These kids depend on me and I promised them everything would be okay."

"It will be," she assured. "It's just going to take some time. I know we aren't together, but I knew those kids well so if you need anything at all, call okay?"

Casey nodded. "Yeah, I will. Thanks Hallie, for everything."

"Anytime," She smiled and stood up. "I'll file the paperwork."

Casey watched her walk away. A part of him missing her and another part knowing what they did was the right thing. But it didn't make any of it easier. Being with someone for eight years almost guarantees you a piece of them for the rest of your life. He would always care about her but right now he had bigger problems to deal with. He stood up, took a deep breath and walked into the room.

Grace was sitting on the edge of the table, dangling her legs and texting. She was warning Jake and trying to get him to calm her down. He was the calm one, she was the spaz. She overreacted and flipped out, but he could brush things off and look at all sides of a problem.

"Hey," Casey said, reaching out to help her off the table. "Let's go home."

She let him help her, wanting nothing more than to forget the whole thing. "Are you mad?"

"Are you mad?" He countered.

She shook her head. "No, but I feel bad."

Casey frowned as they walked the halls. "Why?"

"For what I said about you not being there and not understanding," She sighed. "Honestly, sometimes when I think about it, I do blame you for not helping us but then I remember all the lies Jake and I told you so you wouldn't worry and I realize it's my fault."

"Whoa, hold up," Casey turned to her, putting his hands on her shoulders and giving her direct eye contact. "What he did, what they did, was wrong. You are the child, you did nothing wrong. None of it is your fault, do you understand?"

Grace nodded, tears starting to spill down her cheeks. Casey pulled her into a hug and she held on tight, afraid he might disappear if she let go. He seemed to read her mind again as he tightened his grip.

"I'm not going anywhere," he confirmed.

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews! I love hearing from you guys and I would love to hear what you think of the story so far, so keep reviewing and I'll keep writing.**


	8. Chapter 8

A month had passed and everyone had settled into a routine. The twins were adjusting well at home with Casey and at school with their new friends. Jake had been working out with the basketball team, getting ready for tryouts, and his shoulder was almost healed. Grace had been helping both the junior and senior cheerleading teams with their chorography. Casey was getting into the groove of being a parent and trying to find the right balance. He was happy they had both seemed to make friends easily and get involved in after school programs.

Casey was working his first night shift since the twins moved in and he was worried about leaving them home alone. Grace had become a little clingy when it came to Casey after talking about what happened with her Dad. She had been having nightmares and Casey was worried about leaving her alone for the night. He didn't think he had to worry about Jake until he got a call from the school letting him know Jake had skipped his math class.

"You skipped class?" Casey asked the minute the twins arrived at the firehouse after school.

"What?" Jake said innocently.

"The school just called to tell me you skipped math."

Jake sighed. "It's one class at the end of the week."

"I don't care. You are to be in all your classes every day, unless I say otherwise. Got it?"

"Yeah, I got it."

"You're not going out tonight."

"What?" Jake yelled. "You already said I could!"

"That was before you skipped class. Maybe next time you won't."

"That's not fair!"

"It's plenty fair, Jake. If you don't want to miss weekend time, don't miss class time."

"Come on Uncle Matt, I'm not going to skip again."

"You're still not going out tonight." Casey said. "And I will be checking in so you damn well better be in that house every time I call."

"Whatever." Jake mumbled and walked away.

Casey took a breath and watched him go before turning to Grace. "How was your day?"

"I didn't skip class," she said with a smirk.

"Good," Casey said. "Are you going to be alright tonight?"

Grace shrugged. "Can I stay here?"

"If you want." Casey reassured. "You don't have plans?"

"No, not really."

The twins ate dinner at the firehouse with Casey and the rest of the guys. Anytime Casey worked and there was food being made they stayed, it was just easier that way. Casey believed that the guys in the house really helped the twins adjust too and they were like family. After dinner, Severide and Jake went to work out before leaving. Severide was off for the night and dropped Jake off at home for Casey. Everyone in the house noticed that Jake was upset with Casey and ignoring him.

"I'll probably kill my kids when they become teenagers." Herrmann said later that night after Casey called to check in with Jake.

"And you'll have to go through the teenage years five times." Otis grinned.

"You'd probably just have to kill the first one and that will set an example for the rest." Grace said lying on the couch with a pillow in Casey's lap and texting.

"Good point," Herrmann said. "You got lucky with her Casey."

"I know," Casey said as he looked down at her. "Are you sure you don't want to sleep in my office? There's a bed in there."

"I'm sure." She mumbled. "I'm not tired, it's only eight."

"Who are you talking to?" Herrmann asked. "Is it a boy?"

"Is it?" Casey said a little more seriously.

"Maybe."

"Who?" Casey frowned. "Is he from school? How old is he?"

"Uncle Matt calm down, it's Rachel." Grace grinned at him. "She wants to go get frozen yogurt."

"You can go." Casey nodded. "Do you need money?"

"The answer to that question is always, yes." Herrmann said as Casey handed her money.

Grace met Claire and Rachel downstairs and climbed into the back seat of the car. "Hey girl," Rachel said, turning around in her seat as Claire continued to text from the passenger side.

"Did you know your brother is having a party?" Claire said looking up from her phone.

"What?" Grace frowned, putting her seat belt on as Rachel pulled out.

"Yeah, Nick just texted me saying that all the guys are over there and I should bring some girls."

"Oh, he is an idiot." Grace mumbled. "I didn't know."

"We should go." Rachel said casually. "To you know, check on things."

Claire grinned at Grace, it was no secret that Rachel had a crush on Jake. "Well it is your house."

"Yeah, fine let's go."

Rachel parked and they followed Grace into the house. She was surprised that the guys weren't in the house but in the back yard. "Well at least he's smart enough to have the party outside." Grace said, opening the back door to find more than just the basketball team. She pushed through the people that were blocking the door and tried to find Jake. She recognized most of the people from her classes or from cheerleading but there were still a lot of people crammed in that small backyard.

"Are you crazy?" She said when she found Jake. "Matt said you couldn't do anything tonight."

"Actually he said I couldn't go out," Jake corrected with a grin. "He never said I couldn't have the guys over."

"This isn't just the guys," Grace gestured to the crowd of people around her.

Jake shrugged. "Word got out."

"Matt is going to kill you when he finds out."

"He won't find out. He's working all night." Jake said. "Have a drink, talk to some people and relax Grace, for once."

Grace was about to say more but Jake walked away from her. She sighed and went over to Claire who had found Nick. "Your brother throws a pretty great party."

Grace just smiled at Nick. "My brother has a death wish."

Nick laughed. "Don't worry, we aren't going to let anyone trash the place."

"Good to know." She said.

"Here, want a beer?" Nick offered but Grace shook her head. "We're going to play beer pong, if you want to play you have to drink."

"I'm okay, I suck at beer pong anyway."

"Well you can be my partner and I'll drink for you." Grace turned when she heard Tyler and smiled. Tyler was also on the basketball team, the top shooting guard, and Grace had a crush on him. He was in three of her classes and she was pretty sure he liked her too. "Come on, lay off being the party police and have some fun."

Grace sighed. "Fine, but consider yourself warned on how bad I am at this game."

Grace let herself get caught up in a few games with Tyler against Nick and Claire. She noticed that Rachel had been glued to Lucas all night and was drinking a lot. Claire wasn't drinking and assured Grace that she would drive home. Grace had sent a text to Casey, letting him now she was at home with the girls. After that, Grace stopped worrying and let herself relax and have some much needed fun. They took a break from the game and Tyler followed Grace into the house to get something to eat.

"Cold pizza?" Grace offered, holding up a plate.

"Always better when it's cold."

"I know!" Grace exclaimed as she pulled it out and handed him a slice. "Jake always makes fun of me for that."

"Doesn't know what he is missing," Tyler smiled and Grace couldn't help but return it. "So, are we having fun yet?"

"Yes we are." Grace nodded.

"Good, what are you doing tomorrow?" He asked hesitantly.

Grace was unable to answer as Claire came frantically running in. "Rachel passed out!"

"What?" Grace ran to the door to see Jake carrying an unconscious Rachel inside. "How much did she drink."

"Too much." Jake said as he put her on the couch in the living room.

"Should I call 9-1-1?" Claire asked, her phone ready in her hand.

"No." Jake said quickly. "She's still breathing."

"Jake, she needs help." Grace said.

"Damn it," He mumbled as he kneeled beside her. "Then call Dawson or Shay."

Grace quickly pulled out her phone and called Shay, she still wasn't on the best terms with Dawson. It was partially because of what she told Casey, although Grace understood why she did it, but it was more because Grace had found out she has a thing with Mills. Call it being a teenager, but Grace was jealous.

Shay burst through the door less than ten minutes later with Severide right behind her. Shay went to Rachel and Severide shot Jake a look that made him tense up. It wasn't hard to see that he wasn't happy.

"She'll need to go to the hospital, she has alcohol poisoning." Shay confirmed.

"I can take her," Claire spoke up. "I haven't been drinking."

Shay nodded. "I'll come with you. Kelly, can you help?"

Kelly glanced around the room. "Everybody that doesn't live here better be out of this house by the time I get back in here."

He easily picked Rachel up and carried her out to the car. He waited a few minutes outside as the teenagers made their way out. He kept a careful eye on the ones getting into cars, questioning the drivers before letting them leave. Once everyone had left he headed back into the house to find Jake and Grace trying to clean up the kitchen and back yard.

"Are you kidding me?" He said to Jake once back inside. "Are you really this stupid?"

"Matt wouldn't let me out so the guys came over." He said. "It's not a big deal."

"Someone could have died!" Severide yelled. "You are fifteen years old. That is a long ways away from twenty-one. You just made Casey responsible for every kid that was in this house tonight. Did you think about that? Did you think at all?"

"I didn't mean for this many people to show up and the beer wasn't mine." Jake tried to defend himself.

"But you let them bring it in and you drank it, didn't you?" Severide continued to yell. "And you let everyone else drink it at an unsupervised party. Do you even realize how dangerous this was?"

"It was just a party!" Jake exclaimed, starting to get a little irritated. "People have them all the time."

"Responsible people have responsible parties. You are a child, with minors drinking in your uncle's house while he was at work as a firefighter! So if anything happens to that girl or anyone else that was here, Casey gets in trouble. All this because you were pissed off he grounded you. You deserved it and you sure as hell deserve my lecture right now and you deserve whatever else Casey is going to dish out."

Jake's face paled. "You're going to tell him?"

"No you are going to tell him so get in the car."

"Kelly, come on, please." Jake begged.

"Get in the car, Jake." Severide said more calmly. "Or I will put you in it."

Jake hesitated for a moment but started moving when Severide took a step towards him. He gestured for Grace to follow and she did. The drive was silent. Severide was still trying to calm down. The twins were like his family too, he's known them for a long time and he worried about them. Jake was nervous, really nervous, at the thought of having to tell Casey what happened. Grace wasn't sure how she felt about everything. She knew she probably should have called and told Casey what was going on, but she didn't plan the party and she couldn't control it.

Severide parked outside the firehouse and got out of the car. Jake and Grace followed him into the house and up to the kitchen. It had been a slow night and the guys were just sitting around watching a movie. Casey was at the table doing some paperwork and talking to Herrmann about the bar. He immediately stood up when he saw Severide come in with the twins.

"What are you doing here?" He glanced at his watched. "It's after midnight."

Severide turned and pulled Jake by his upper arm to stand in front of Casey. "Tell him, all of it, right now."

Casey frowned as he looked from a fuming Severide to an obvious nervous Jake. "What happened?"

Jake could barely look at Casey. "I had a party and things got out of hand."

"You what?" Casey asked, not sure he was hearing right.

Jake sighed and looked up. "You said I couldn't go out so I invited the guys over but people found out and it turned into a party."

"And?" Severide pushed for him to continue.

"And they brought beer." Jake hesitated as he made eye contact with Casey. "A girl passed out so I called Shay and she brought her to the hospital and Kelly kicked everyone out and brought us here."

Casey was quiet for a few moments as he eyed his nephew. His glare made Jake squirm and he broke eye contact. "Come with me."

Jake followed Casey to his office and stood by the bed. Casey closed the door and turned around to face Jake, crossing his arms over his chest. "Please explain to me, what part of being grounded you didn't understand?"

"I was mad." Jake said quietly. "You said I couldn't go to the party."

"So you decided to have the party, with alcohol, in my house when I was not home and without my permission?" Casey said raising his voice. "Did you ever stop to think that if the state found out I could lose you two?"

"I didn't think you'd find out." Jake mumbled, starting to feel guilty. "I'm sorry Uncle Matt."

"No, you're sorry you got caught." Casey corrected. "You are grounded until I say otherwise. You go to school, home and here and that is it."

Jake looked up. "What about basketball?"

"I'm not so sure you should be a part of that team if this is how you behave."

"Uncle Matt that isn't fair!" Jake yelled. "If you don't let me play basketball then you're a real jack ass!"

"Hey! Don't you dare talk to me like that." Casey snapped. "I said I will think about it. If you want my permission and yes you do need it, I better see a change in your behaviour and your attitude. Do you understand me?"

Jake nodded, realizing he may have pushed Casey too far. "Yes sir."

"I mean it, Jake. You better be perfect for the next few weeks. And if you ever pull a stunt like this again or speak to me how you just did, you won't like what happens. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir." Jake mumbled again.

"Good, get some sleep. You can stay in here tonight." Casey said as he turned and opened the door.

"Uncle Matt?" Jake called out suddenly. "You're not going to, I mean you wouldn't, I don't want to go back." Jake said as he struggled for the right words.

Casey frowned and put his hands on Jake's shoulders. "Look at me." He waited until Jake made eye contact. "There is nothing you could do or say that would make me leave or stop wanting you in my life."

"I messed up." Jake shook his head.

"Yeah you did, so learn from it." Casey pulled him into an embrace. "I love you bud, but you are still grounded."

Jake smirked as they pulled apart. "I love you too, Uncle Matt."

"Try to get some sleep." Casey squeezed his shoulder before leaving the room to find Grace.

**A/N: If you are reading this story and you enjoy it, review and tell me! The more reviews I have the more likely I am to continue it. Also, I'm not sure how much I really want to follow the show but if there is a certain scene or topic you think I should write about let me know! I'm open to ideas **


	9. Chapter 9

Grace was sitting on the counter in the kitchen talking to Mills. She was swinging her legs as he stood across from her, leaning against the counter with his arms crossed over his chest. He had come pretty protective of her and when he heard what happened, he wasn't happy either. Grace was explaining, something she figured she would be doing multiple times over the next few days.

"I was going to tell Matt, but then I got there and Tyler was there and – "

"Who is Tyler?" Mills interrupted.

Grace tried not to let a smile slip through as she hesitated. "He's a friend."

"A friend?" Mills questioned. "A friend that distracted you how?"

Grace rolled her eyes. "Not like that, we were just playing beer pong."

"Excuse me?" He raised his eyebrows.

Grace sighed. "I wasn't drinking. Are you going to let me finish this story?"

"Sorry, go ahead."

"Anyway, I got caught up talking to him and my friends and I didn't tell him."

"Because you were having a good time." Grace nodded. "I don't know Grace, that's not really a good reason."

"Yeah but I didn't throw the party and I wasn't grounded."

"Okay, but you knew it was wrong and you didn't say anything to Casey."

Grace sighed dramatically. "I know but I haven't had any fun since I got here and I like Tyler."

"I wouldn't tell Casey that," Mills said. "I get why you didn't tell him but I don't think you're off the hook."

"I know," Grace said looking down. "He's going to hate me."

"Hey," Mills frowned. "He won't hate you."

"I'm so stupid for not telling him and Jake is stupid for throwing the party. What if he wants to get rid of us?" Grace looked up at him, the worry clear in his eyes.

"He's not going to do that." Mills reassured. "And you are not stupid."

"You don't know that." She said quietly, referring to her fear of Casey leaving.

"Grace," Severide said as he walked into the room. "Off the counter and follow me."

Grace rolled her eyes at Mills and jumped down, following Severide out of the room and into the locker room. Grace found it a weird spot to talk but she figured it was because Casey was with Jake in his office.

"What are you going to lecture me now?" She said once inside.

"You're damn right I am. Sit down." Grace sighed and sat down on the bench. Severide crossed his arms and towered over her. "You may have not thrown the party but you went there and let it happen."

"I'm not Jake's babysitter, even if I wanted to shut the party down there is no way I could have."

"No, but if you called Casey or me, we could have. You were just as irresponsible as Jake was. You knew Casey wouldn't let you have a party with alcohol and without him but you didn't tell him. You know better than this, I thought you were smarter than this."

"That is not fair." She said standing up. "I'm allowed to make mistakes and be a kid. I'm fifteen Kelly, I've had a horrible childhood and I finally get to live a normal life and have people over without worrying that my alcoholic mother or drug using father would show up and freak out. Yeah maybe I should have called Matt but it wasn't my idea and I didn't even know about it. I got there and I wanted to have a good time, that doesn't make me stupid it makes me human."

"I didn't say you were stupid."

"You didn't have to." She said. "Grace is the smart one, the responsible one, the one no one has to worry about and I'm sick of it. I don't want to be the perfect kid, or the kid that has to take care of herself because her parents don't care enough to be parents, I want to be a normal teenager. After everything I went through, I think I'm allowed to be stupid sometimes."

"At what cost Grace?" Severide asked. "He could lose custody of you two, did you think of that? How is that fair to him or any of us that have tried so hard to keep you here? Did you think about that when you decided you wanted to be a normal teenager who is stupid and reckless? You don't get that luxury. It sucks what happened to you two but Casey is trying to help you and you might have just put the whole thing in jeopardy."

Grace stared at him for a few minutes before running out of the locker room. Severide sighed and followed her but the time he got into the hallway she was gone. He rounded the corner and almost walked right into Casey.

"Where is Grace?" He asked, looking around Severide. "Mill said she was with you."

"I don't know, she left the locker room and I don't know where she went."

"Well she didn't go this way," Casey said.

Severide sighed. "I told her that the party could get her taken away from you."

"Severide," Casey said. "You can't tell her things like that."

"You're not the only one that cares about them, Casey."

"I know you care about them and I know you're mad at them. But you can't tell Grace things like that, she takes things too literally and it will freak her out."

"Damn it." Severide shook his head.

"I'll find her." Casey said, waving him off. "Thanks for helping out tonight."

"Yeah, anytime." He said with a nod.

Casey walked away and down the hall. She could only be in the garage or outside and Casey doubted she would actually leave the building. Usually Grace would run and hide because she simply wanted someone to come find her. He knew where she was and when he opened the truck door, neither of them were surprised to see each other. He climbed in and sat beside her in silence.

"I just wanted to have fun." She said after a few minutes. "I don't want them to take us."

Casey frowned and put his arm around her, pulling her close. "I won't let that happen."

"Are you mad?" She said into his chest.

Casey pulled her back and cupped her chin, making sure she was looking at him. "I'm not happy with your choices tonight. You lied to me and you went behind my back. But listen to me when I tell you that I could never hate you. Not ever. Do you understand me?"

Grace nodded and blinked away tears. "I'm sorry, Uncle Matt."

He let go of her face and nodded. "Come on, you should get some sleep."

Casey helped her out of the truck and took her to Severide's office. He had gone home and Casey knew he wouldn't mind if she stayed in there. She climbed into the bed and he dropped a kiss to her forehead before making his way back to the kitchen.

Grace laid awake for a few minutes, staring at the ceiling and trying not to feel the guilt that had suddenly come over her. Sleep came fast but it wasn't easy. Her thoughts were plagued with fears of being taken away and memories of her parents.

She woke up a few hours later in the early morning hours with the fear still clear in her mind. She slowly and quietly made her way out of the office and down to the kitchen. Mouch was reading the newspaper on the couch, Otis and Herrmann were talking about the bar and Casey was helping Mills make breakfast.

They all looked up when she came in and Otis looked at his watch. "It's five-thirty? Don't teenagers sleep all day?" He joked, not knowing about her sleeping past.

"Especially when they didn't go to bed until one in the morning." Mouch added.

"Guys," Herrmann said, shaking his head to tell them to stop talking.

Casey stepped away from the counter and crossed the room to meet her at the door. He could easily tell she had had a sleepless night and as he made his way to her he watched her unravel. "Hey, hey, come here." He guided her out into the hall and pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly. He could feel the tears racking through her body and he frowned.

The rest of the guys tried not to watch but it was the first time they had seen the result of her nightmares. Casey had told Herrmann about them and Mills knew but they had never seen the aftermath of it.

"Want to tell me what it was about?" Casey said, still holding her, his chin resting on her head.

"You left, they took us," She mumbled. "We went back to them."

"Well that isn't going to happen." He said as he pulled her back and wiped a few stray tears away. "I promise."

She nodded and he put his arm around her, leading her to the table to sit with the rest of the guys. Mills and Casey brought over a breakfast assortment of pancakes, eggs and bacon.

"Want some breakfast?" Mills asked.

She shook her head but Casey placed a plate of food in front of her. "Eat, sweetheart."

Casey disappeared for a few minutes and returned with an exhausted looking Jake. Jake sat beside her, with Casey on the other side, but Jake made a face at the food. Casey suspected that he was probably a little hung over and he wasn't happy about it. He wasn't going to let his nephew get away with it either.

"Eat up, Jake. You'll need your energy to clean up the house and yard today." Casey's tone was serious, but he let a grin slip out to let Jake know that everything was forgiven.


	10. Chapter 10

Grace was a little worried when she didn't see Matt outside the school. Every time he didn't pick them up after school she knew it was because he was at a fire. She had always known he was a firefighter and it used to never bother her. He was her hero and she was proud of him. None of that has changed, but living with him and being constantly reminded of the dangers of his job was unsettling for her. But she would never tell him that, he loved his job.

It didn't take long for Grace to spot Christie. She was leaning against her car and talking on her cell phone. She waved when she saw Grace and as Grace walked over she could see her trying to end the conversation. Christie was trying really hard lately, Grace didn't mind, she realized most of what her mother told her about Christie was wrong and Grace liked having her around.

Jake could care less either way. He wasn't hesitant towards people like Grace was and he didn't have any problems with new people coming into his life. He figured they couldn't be any worse than the people that were in his life back in L.A. He welcomed change easily, it was part of his carefree personality.

"How was school?" Christie said when Grace got close enough.

She shrugged. "It was good, nothing new."

"You don't have cheer practice after school?" Christie asked as they waited for Jake.

"Not on Fridays." Grace said as she threw her bag in the backseat of the SUV. "Tyler asked me out."

Christie smiled with excitement for her niece. "Did you say yes?"

"Yeah, but I said I'd have to ask Matt." Grace frowned. "How long do you think he'll be?"

"Is your date tonight?"

Grace nodded. "He asked me out on Tuesday but I haven't told Matt yet."

Christie smirked remember the days of dating. "Well I think he'll be awhile. He asked me to pick you up and have dinner with us. He said he'd get you when he was off shift at eight."

"Tyler said he'd pick me up at seven." Grace bit her lip.

"I don't see why you can't go." Christie said. "I'll talk to Matt for you when he comes at eight."

"Really?" Grace smiled. "Thanks."

"No problem," Christie said giving her a one armed hug. "There's that brother of yours."

Jake jogged over to the car and Grace realized he was in his gym clothes and didn't have his bag with him. "Hey Aunt Christie," He said giving her a hug. "Where's Uncle Matt?"

"At a fire, where's your stuff?"

"The assistant basketball coach is running an off court practise in the weight room and I really want to go. He invited me and I can't really say no. If I do I might not make the team. Please, can I go?"

Christie sighed. "How long will you be?"

"An hour, two at the most."

Christie nodded. "Alright, but I'll be back to get you so you better not take off."

"I won't," He grinned. "Thanks Aunt Christie."

They watched him run back inside before getting into the car and starting to drive. "Matt hasn't said if he could try out yet." Grace said after a few minutes of silent driving.

"I know," Christie said. "But I can't see Matt saying no to a team sport."

"Why?"

"They're good for you. They teach social skills and team work and time management." She said. "Besides, Matt knows he really wants to play and he doesn't have it in him to hurt him like that."

"But he's grounded."

"From going out and seeing friends. Basketball is a part of school in my opinion." She shook her head. "Don't worry about it, if Matt has a problem he'll take it up with me."

"I just don't want him in a bad mood when you tell him about my date."

Christie laughed. "Oh, no concern for your brother then?"

"He got himself in this mess." Grace grinned. "He even got me grounded for the last two weeks and now that I'm finally not grounded again, I want to go out with Tyler."

"And I think you should." Christie nodded. "I'll tell you what, we have a few hours to kill, how about we go shopping?"

"Really?" Grace beamed, she didn't do much shopping.

"Yeah," Christie said. "I think you need a few new things."

Grace spent the next two hours shopping with Christie. She had a lot of fun and it surprised Grace how easy it was to talk to Christie. Christie enjoyed the quality time with her niece and may have gone a little overboard on buying her things. Grace didn't take advantage, she tried to say no to a few things, but she never had someone want to really buy her things before. Her mother never really took her shopping since they didn't have the money to buy nice things. Christie knew this, it was part of the reason she was buying Grace clothes. That, and because she thought her niece deserved them. Grace worked hard at school, she was smart and responsible and Christie wanted her to feel good about herself.

Christie also noticed that Grace and Jake didn't have much in the way of clothes. She knew it was because her sister couldn't provide for them but Christie had the money and didn't mind spoiling them. She bought them jeans, sweaters and winter jackets because she knew they didn't have any warmer clothes. She bought Grace some cute shoes and a few cute tops as well. Christie knew Matt might not be happy, but it wasn't like she bought the kids designer clothes, they were reasonably priced and the twins needed them. They lived in L.A., they didn't have any winter clothes and the colder weather had already started. Besides, she was their aunt and she could buy them things if she wanted.

Grace left the mall very happy. She thought she was getting one new outfit but ended up with basically a winter wardrobe. They picked Jake up from the school and he spent the car ride home going through his new clothes in the back seat. He was a little worried at first, but Christie had good taste and he liked everything she picked out.

"Grace!" Violet yelled when she stepped in the door. Grace hugged her quickly before she tore out of her arms and ran at Jake. "JAKE!"

"VIOLET!" He taunted and picked her up so she could touch the ceiling, it was something she insisted on doing every time she saw him. "How was school?"

"I got the lead in the school play!" She exclaimed as he kicked off his shoes.

"You did!" He said, matching her excitement. He carried her to the kitchen and put her down on the counter, nodding at Jim who was cooking vegan spaghetti.

"Yes, will you come watch?"

"I sure will, you let me know when it is."

"Okay!" She beamed at him and he smiled back.

"Dinner is ready," Jim said as he kissed Christie.

"We can eat and we will still have plenty of time to get you ready," Christie said when she caught Grace staring at the clock on the stove.

"Ready for what?" Jake said as he sat down at the table with Violet and Grace.

Jim placed the spaghetti in the middle of the table and looked at Christie with equal curiosity as she put the salad down. "Grace has a date."

"With who?" Jake frowned.

"Tyler." She mumbled, taking a small plate of food, she could never eat large meals.

"How old is he?" Jim asked, easily stepping into the father figure role.

"My age." Grace said. "He plays basketball, he gets good grades and he's nice to me."

Jim nodded. "Alright then."

Grace smiled. "I hope Matt is that easy."

"He won't be." Christie smiled.

"Comforting, thanks." Grace grinned as she ate her food.

After dinner Grace spent some time with Jake and Violet as she waited for Christie and Jim to clean up. They offered to help but Grace figured they refused so they could spend some time alone and talk, even if it meant talking over dishes. When Christie was done she followed Grace upstairs to pick out an outfit and help her with her hair and makeup. Grace wore a new outfit of dark wash jeans, a light pink tank top with ruffles that she paired with a cranberry long sleeve cardigan and a pair of black flats. Christie gave her one of her cross body leather bags to use and some jewelry to match her outfit. She helped her do her makeup; she kept it simple as she was only fifteen, but used some tricks to make her eyes pop.

She was straightening her hair when Grace suddenly spoke up. "Thanks."

Christie frowned slightly but continued. "Anytime."

"My mom never took me shopping or would help me with this stuff."

"Your mom and I were close once, she used to do all this for me. So, I know that if she could she would do it for you too." Christie said. "She has a problem Grace, it's hard to understand and I know it's not fair but she wasn't always like that."

"I know, but it's all I remember."

Christie put the straightener down grabbed a few bobby pins to pull back some of Grace's hair. "You're beautiful," She smiled when she was finished. "She would be here if she could and she would be so proud."

Grace returned the smile which grew about three times its size when she heard the doorbell ring. She was excited and nervous all at the same time. Grace peered back into the mirror quickly before following Christie down the stairs. Grace smiled at the Tyler who was talking to Jake and he smiled back.

"You look great," he said.

Grace smiled again and Christie handed her a light black pea coat that Grace assumed was Christie's. "Are you sure?"

Christie nodded. "Have fun and call me if you need me."

Grace nodded and left the house with Tyler. She got into his car and smiled at him, again. "So, where are we going?"

"Have you ever been roller skating?" He asked with a grin.

Grace was glad he didn't say to a movie because she never thought of that as a good date option because you couldn't talk to the person. She laughed and shook her head. "No I have not."

"Well it's fun. People skating around, some good, some bad with cheesy music and cheap food."

"Sounds perfect." She said. "But I have never really skated. I'm from L.A."

"Yeah, I figured." He nodded before turning to her with a grin. "But teaching you will be half the fun."

Grace smiled at him once again and when they pulled into the parking lot she found herself actually excited. They went inside and got their skates on and began skating. Grace was glad when she seemed to pick it up easily, although, she was holding onto Tyler's arm and there was no way she was letting go. They skated around a few times until she got the hang of it and felt a little more comfortable. She let go of his arm and settled for holding his hand. He pulled her slightly and attempted to get her to spin but it sent them both crashing to the ground. They lied there laughing too hard to get up at first and when they finally did, he led her off to get something to eat.

"I thought dancers were supposed to be graceful?" He joked with a big grin.

"Sorry," She said as they stood in line. "But you're the lead. I followed you and ended up on the ground. I think that's your fault?"

"Oh you do, do you?" He said and nodded towards the menu. "What do you want?"

"Hmm," She said as she studied it. "I don't know, what's good?"

"Nothing really, it's roller rink food." He laughed again.

"Well, I know a place that has great burgers and shakes." She said. "It's this little diner."

"Mills Family Diner?" He said. "I love that place. You know that place?"

"Yeah, Peter works with my uncle."

"Oh right, Firefighter, I forgot." He nodded. "Yeah, let's go."

They spent the rest of the date in a booth at the diner eating burgers and fries and talking. Grace was glad Mills wasn't there, she knew he would give Tyler a hard time. Mrs. Mills was there, she kept an eye on the two but stayed out of their way. At the end of the night he drove her home and walked her up to the door.

"I have fun." She smiled. "Thanks."

"Yeah I had a good time," He agreed. "I like a girl that can fall and laugh about it and eats burgers and fries instead of salad."

"Well, I like a boy that holds my hand, opens my car door and teaches me how to roller skate."

"Like me enough to do this again?" He asked as he took a step closer. "Maybe next weekend?"

Grace's heart skipped a beat and she nodded. "I'd like that."

"Good," He said. He hesitated but then leaned down and kissed her. It wasn't a long kiss, but it didn't have to be, Grace felt that precious spark and she smiled. "Good night."

"Night."

She waited a few seconds, trying to whip the ridiculous smile off her face but she couldn't. She opened the door, kicked off her shoes and hung up her coat before stepping into the living room. Matt looked up at her and they stared at each other for a few moments. Grace was trying to read him, she wasn't sure if he was okay with her dating and it made her nervous to think he could be mad at her.

"So how was the date?" He said with a big smile.

Relief washed over Grace and she returned the smile. "It was so good!" She said with excitement as she sat down on the couch beside him. "I had so much fun."

"What did you do?" He asked as he turned off the TV. and turned towards his niece. It was nice to see her so happy and he was glad she wanted to talk to him about it.

"We went roller skating!" She said with a laugh. "I've never been but I was okay until he wanted me to do this spin thing and we both fell. It was hilarious, we just laid on the ground in the middle of the rink for about five minutes and laughed. Then we went to Mills Diner and had some food and then he brought me home."

"Did he kiss you?" Casey teased with a grin.

"Uncle Matt!" She said as she tried to hide the blush that crept into her face.

"You kissed on the first date?" He said with pretend shock.

"Only goodnight!" She said before frowning. "Why? Was I not supposed to?"

Casey tried to hide his smile as he realized something about his niece. "Was this your first date Grace? You're first kiss perhaps too?"

Grace looked away and shrugged before looking back at him. "Maybe."

"Oh, my little girl's growing up," He smiled. "Not sure I like that."

"He asked me out again next weekend."

"Are you asking me or telling me?" He joked. "Would you like me to call Christie and see if it's okay with her?"

"Are you mad?" She asked seriously. "I didn't know how to tell you."

"No sweetheart, I'm not mad." He shook his head. "But if he is taking you out again next weekend, I want to meet him."

"Okay, you can meet him." She nodded. "But don't scare him off."

"I would never do that," He said sarcastically with a grin. "But I can't say the same for Severide."

"He cannot be here!" Grace said, emphasizing each word.

"Well he's coming over that night to watch the game."

"What night?"

"Whatever night that boy is picking you up." Casey smirked.

"Uncle Matt!" She whined.

"I'm only joking," Casey laughed. "I'm glad you had a good time, Grace. It's nice to see you so happy, even if it's because of a boy."

"Well yeah, he made me happy tonight." Grace nodded. "But you're the reason I'm happy every day. Give yourself some credit Uncle Matt, you literally saved our lives."

Casey smiled at his niece, touched at her words and pulled her into his arms for a hug. "Thanks Grace."


	11. Chapter 11

Grace and Jake climbed out of Nick's car at the firehouse at the end of the day. He offered to drop them off after practise as he was driving Claire home and her house wasn't far from there. Grace noticed Casey talking to a familiar looking woman, but couldn't place her. Grace could tell Jake noticed too and she was surprised to see Jake frowning a bit. Grace brushed it off and ran up to Casey.

"Hey guys," He said as they both approached. "Heather you remember my niece Grace and nephew Jake."

"I do," She nodded with a smile. "But the twins I remember were a lot younger. You're all grown up."

Grace briefly returned the smile. "Yeah that happens. Look!" She said waving her test paper in front of Casey. "I got a 96 on my math test!"

"Wow, good job." Casey said looking over the paper before turning to Jake. "What did you get?"

"I didn't get mine back."

Casey just looked at him, not believing it. "You're in the same class. Come on, out with it." Jake hesitated before handing over the paper. Casey eyed him, expecting the worst and sighed as he opened the paper. He looked at it and shook his head, a smile spreading across his face. "An 82?"

"Got you, didn't I?" Jake grinned.

"Yeah buddy you did." Casey laughed. "That's amazing, nice work."

"Uhm, hello?" Grace said. "I got a 96."

"Yeah but that's you." Jake emphasised the word 'you'. "You always get good grades, I don't so this is huge. Stop trying to steal my moment." He joked, but she didn't find it funny.

Grace rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Maybe you should thank Shay for helping you."

Casey nodded as he handed the test back to Jake. "That's a good idea."

"I will." He said before turning to Heather. "Nice seeing you Heather, I was sorry to hear about Andy. He was always one of my favorites when I was a kid, he made visiting here real fun."

Grace and Casey frowned, surprised to hear Jake being so sympathetic. Andy did get along well with Jake when he was younger, but Casey never told Jake what happened or talked to him about it. He figured Severide must have said something to him or maybe Jake had asked.

Heather nodded, smiling a little. "Thank you." She watched the twins head inside before looking at Casey. "I take it they aren't just visiting this time?"

"No," Casey shook his head. "It's a long story, but they're living with me right now. My sister has some problems she's working on and their Dad is God knows where."

"Well at least they have you." She smiled. "I'll see you at the banquet?"

"Yeah, I'll call you." He nodded with a smile.

Casey walked into the kitchen a few steps behind the twins and watched as Jake approached Shay. "Check it out, look who's smart!" He said, dropping the paper on the table in front of her.

"An 82? That's great!" She exclaimed. "I knew you could do it."

"Yeah, yeah, school is important, good job and all that." Severide interrupted. "What about basketball?"

"Yeah," Casey joined in. "Did you make the team?"

Jake slowly shrugged before grinning. "New shooting guard!"

"Atta boy!" Severide yelled, messing up his hair. "I knew you could do it."

"Yeah thanks to you and your help. There was no way I was going to get my shoulder healed or back in shape in time on my own." He turned to Shay. "And there was no way I could have got an 82 by myself. I have to get good grades or I don't play so I may need your help again."

Shay nodded. "Anytime."

"Same here." Severide nodded. "I'll keep you in fighting mode."

Grace rolled her eyes as she stood at the counter with Mills and watched all the commotion with Jake. He always got all the attention, good and bad. No matter what she did, he would overshadow her and it annoyed her. It bothered her more when she realized everyone in the house was asking him about his day, his grades, his sports and no one bothered to ask her. She was jealous, plain and simple.

Mills noticed and nudged her. "What did you get on your math test?"

"Who cares." She mumbled before leaving the room.

Grace slipped out the back door of the kitchen and stood against the wall. She tried to control her emotions. It may seem silly, but Jake had always been the centre of attention growing up and she wanted things to be differed here, but they weren't. It reminded her too much of what went on in L.A. Jake was the golden child, even with their parents problems they still put him and his accomplishments above her.

Casey rounded the corner to see her standing there and sighed. "Alright Gracie, what is it?"

"Just leave me alone, Uncle Matt." She said quietly.

He frowned, she always talked about what was bothering her. "Come on." He insisted.

"I want to be alone." She said firmly.

"Okay, well come find me if you need to talk."

She nodded and he went back inside. It was only about a minute before she heard the door open again. She sighed but was surprised when she saw Herrmann. "I've got four kids, I know sibling rivalry when I see it."

"We aren't fighting."

"No, but you are competing." He said. "Frustrating when you're the one that always gets the good grades or is good at a sport but the screw up gets all the attention, isn't it?"

Grace looked at him. "Yeah, it is."

"As parents we do that. We don't mean too, but the fact is you don't need praise to do great things. It's the other one, the one that fails, that needs to be pushed and needs that extra praise to do it again. You can do it on your own, he needs help."

"Doesn't mean I don't deserve praise too." She stared straight ahead. "The school counsellor at my old school said I was a people pleaser and I was constantly pushing for approval from others because I never got it at home. I needed to be perfect at school to compensate for the crap life I had at home and that if I kept doing that, I was going to be unhappy. But I was already unhappy, miserable even. Then I came here and things were different. I wasn't the sad girl with the crazy parents, I wasn't referred to as Jake's loser twin and Matt didn't constantly compare me to Jake for stupid reasons like my parents did. I got to be my own person and I got the recognition for my marks and for my dancing that I deserved. I felt important and finally good about myself for once."

"And all that in there," He said gesturing towards the door. "It ruined it."

"Yeah," She nodded. "It did. And maybe it's stupid but I'm tired of being in his shadow and tired of no one appreciating me."

"You aren't invisible, if you were I wouldn't have come out here." He said. "And Casey was just out here too and don't think that we didn't all notice when you walked out. Look, sometimes you have to yell to get attention and it's okay to fight for that spot light."

"I don't want to do that. I don't want to throw it all in everyone's face and brag about it like he does. I just want to be asked and for people to remember my things like they always remember his." She sighed. "It doesn't even matter. I'm back to being that shy little girl, wanting the approval of everyone."

"It's different now," He said. "We are your family too. So come back inside."

She sighed and followed him, partially because he was right and partially because she didn't feel like talking anymore. That, and it was cold out. She went to the far end of the table and began doing her homework. She saw Herrmann nod at Casey before the two of them disappeared into the hallway. Dawson appeared beside her and pulled her test from her binder.

"This is amazing." She said before leaning down and whispering, "Way better than an 82."

Grace smiled. "Thanks."

"This goes on the fridge." She said and Grace watched as she pinned it up. "Now everyone will see, because these boys like to eat."

Grace laughed. "Good idea."

"Speaking of boys, I heard you have one?" She asked, sitting down beside her. "Tyler is it?"

Grace nodded. "Yeah, he's really cute and really nice. We're supposed to go out tomorrow night but with the banquet, I don't know if I can."

"Are you and Jake coming to the banquet?"

"I don't think so, but Matt doesn't want me going out with him again until he meets him."

"Oh I see," Dawson nodded. "I'd bring reinforcements when that meeting happens."

"Are you offering?" She grinned. "I might be able to get Christie to come too, she's always met him, but I feel like Matt should be outnumbered."

Dawson laughed. "You're probably right so sure, I'll be there. I want to meet him anyway."

"He's great, you'll like him."

Their conversation was interrupted by a call coming through and Dawson was up and moving quickly with everyone else. Grace and Jake were left alone in the room and they were quiet for a awhile before he finally sighed and threw down his pen.

"Why are you mad?" He asked. "What did I do?"

"Nothing, you were just being you."

"What does that mean?" He said, wondering if he should be offended.

"It means you are once again the golden child that gets all the attention, no matter what you do. If you screw up, or if you make the team or get a good grade or get a new girlfriend, they are always talking about you."

"What are you talking about?" He frowned.

"It happened at home and it's happening here." She said. "I got a 96, you got an 82, but you got all the attention. No one even asked me about my grade or about cheerleading."

"Well, I'm sorry," He said honestly. "I don't mean to take attention away from you."

"I know." She sighed. "But it happens and it makes me feel like I don't matter."

"Don't get mad, but it might be because you don't talk about your stuff and what's going on. I asked Shay for help, I told everyone I suck at school and was going to fail so they asked me about the test. I work out with Severide and play basketball with most of the guys here for fun. I talk to them about my life so they ask. You don't do that and you can't expect them to read your mind."

"I talk about my life too, I just don't brag."

"Whatever, Grace." He shook his head. "You're always the victim."

Grace glared at him before packing her bag and storming out of the room. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and called Tyler to come and get her. He was out front within five minutes and she climbed into his car with a smile. They drove away and she ignored Jake's phone calls.

"Hey," Tyler said as he leaned across to kiss her. "What do you want to do?"

Grace shrugged. "Something unpredictable."

She was tired of playing it safe and tired of being overlooked. Maybe this would finally get their attention.

**A/N: If you want this story to continue, review. If I don't get at least 10 reviews I'm not continuing it. So speak up people! **


	12. Chapter 12

Casey arrived back at the firehouse with the others about an hour later. He made his way back to the kitchen to pick up the twins to bring out to dinner with a few of the others. He was surprised when he only saw Jake seated at the table, even more surprised when he saw him doing homework.

"Where's Grace?"

Jake hesitated, debating between covering for his sister and telling his uncle what happened. With no desire to get into any more trouble, he opted for the latter. "I don't know. She left with Tyler."

Casey frowned. "Why?"

"Well," Jake sighed. "We got into a fight and she took off. She does this when she doesn't get her own way, she'll be back eventually."

Casey pulled out his phone and dialed Grace. The phone went straight to voicemail and Casey raised his eyebrows. It wasn't like his niece to take off and not answer his calls. He knew she either had her phone off or was ignoring his calls, either way, he wasn't happy. "Grace, call me back, sooner rather than later."

He hung up just as Severide and the others came strolling into the room. "Where's Grace?" He asked as he looked around. "I thought we were all going out for dinner?"

"We were supposed to." Casey said. "She took off."

"Why?" Dawson frowned as she pulled out her phone.

"I already called her and I don't know."

"Jake," Severide turned to him. "What happened?"

Jake sighed. "She was complaining about the lack of attention she gets. I told her to stop being a victim."

Casey frowned at his nephew. "That wasn't very nice."

"She was going at me saying I was the reason no one ever paid attention to her." Jake defended himself. "I tell you guys stuff, and talk to you about your stuff too. I mean, she really only talks to Dawson and Mills. She did this at home too, she expects everyone to just know about all her accomplishments and constantly praise her. She gets good grades and tries really hard at stuff just to get the praise. It's not my fault and I wasn't going to sit here and let her ruin my good mood."

Severide smirked, noticing his anger. "How'd that work out for you?"

"She can't be far." Shay said. "Do you want to look for her or just wait?"

"We should look for her." Severide said.

"We should wait." Dawson said at the same time.

"I agree with Dawson," Mills said. "She'll come back, she just needs to blow off some steam."

"She's obviously upset," Severide said. "I don't want her to do something stupid because she has some crazy idea that we don't care about her."

Casey nodded. "Yeah, this could be a test to see if we come after her too."

"Besides," Severide added. "She can't just take off like that."

Casey sighed. "Alright, here's what we'll do. Dawson and Mills can you go to the diner? I know Tyler likes the food there too so they might stop there at some point."

"Yes we can do that." Dawson nodded with a smile. "Someone should go to your house."

"I can do that." Shay said. "I have a stack of sperm donor profiles to go through anyway."

"Okay," Casey nodded. "Jake can you call your friends and see if anyone has seen her?"

"Yeah I guess I'll just ruin my night." Jake sighed. "I had plans with Rachel but whatever."

"Call her, maybe she can help." Casey offered. "Severide and I can go around to places they might be."

Everyone nodded and went in separate direction to help. Severide pulled out his phone, ignoring Casey saying he already called her, and dialed her again. "Little girl you better answer your phone."

**Tyler and Grace**

Grace laughed as she tore around the corner on the go kart with Tyler close behind. He suggested they go go-kart racing after she said she wanted to do something fun and unpredictable. It was just the distraction she needed, with the right amount of rush to blow off some stream.

Tyler went to pass her and she cut him off, laughing again. She was having a lot of fun, more fun than she's ever had. She really liked Tyler and he liked her. She wanted to be a different person in Chicago and this was definitely not something she would have been doing in L.A. Racing around a track with a cute boy was new to her, dating a cute boy was new to her.

They finished their laps and Grace pulled off her helmet and climbed out of the car. "I win!" She said with a laugh when Tyler got out of his.

"Only because I let you." He grinned as he walked towards her.

"Oh you let me?" She nodded. "Whatever makes you sleep at night."

"You're pretty good for never doing this before." He added. "You sure you aren't some go-kart professional?"

Grace shrugged. "Maybe I could be."

"Most girls that come here get all scared about how fast the car can go. They never just let loose and have fun like you did."

"Oh, so you bring other girls here?" She stared at him before laughing.

"Maybe once or twice." He admitted. "But they were too worried about their hair getting messed up."

Grace smiled as she picked up her jacket and phone from the guy behind the desk. She frowned when she saw the missed calls and messages. "What's wrong?" Tyler asked. "Do you have to go?"

"Uh, no." She said, shaking her head and putting her phone in her pocket.

"Good," he smiled. "Do you want to go to Mills Diner and get some food?"

"I want to defiantly get some food," She said but knew that they were probably looking for her. "But let's go somewhere new."

"New, huh?" He said, trying to think. "Well, there's this great taco place on the other side of the city. Totally worth the drive."

"Yeah, let's go."

They were walking out to the parking lot just when Severide was walking across it. Grace tried to get out of his view and pull Tyler faster towards his car but she wasn't quick enough. She thought seriously about running but figured Tyler didn't deserve the blame for that. She watched Severide spot her and come stalking towards her.

"What the hell Grace?" he demanded when he got close enough.

Tyler looked from Grace to Severide and back to Grace. "What's going on?"

"I don't even want to hear from you." Severide said as he turned back to Grace. "Let's go."

"Don't talk to him like that. He didn't do anything." Grace said. "You aren't my parent Kelly, you can't tell me what to do and I don't have to listen to you. So just leave us alone."

"I'll talk to him however I want." Severide yelled. "And you damn well have to listen to me when I've spent the last hour looking for you along with Casey, Shay, Dawson and Mills. I may not be responsible for you, but I do care about you. You want to act like a kid? Throw a little tantrum and take off? I'll treat you like one. Get in the car, now."

Grace crossed her arms and stared him down. "Make me."

Severide raised his eyebrows with shock. He was tired of talking and couldn't believe the attitude she gave him. He closed the distance between them, grabbing her and throwing her over his shoulder. She yelled at him to put her down and struggled to get out of his grip.

Tyler watched and didn't know whether he should help. "Can someone tell me what is happening?"

"Family matter," Severide mumbled. "She'll call you later to explain."

Severide carried her to his car, put her down beside the passenger side door and shoved her inside. "I swear to God, if you try to get out of this car I will duck tape you to the seat."

Grace just glared at him but didn't make any movements to get out. He slammed her door and got into the driver's seat. They drove in silence for a few minutes before Grace tried to explain.

"Kelly –"

He held a hand up to interrupt her. "I don't even want to hear it, Grace."

He was mad, beyond mad, and Grace knew that this wasn't a good sign. He made a quick call to Casey saying he found her and they'd meet back at the house. When they got there and Grace saw all the cars, all the adrenaline she had been feeling suddenly turned to regret and fear.

She sighed and climbed out of the car, following Severide up the driveway and into the house. She rounded the corner and saw the living room full with Shay, Dawson, Mills, Jake and Casey. They each had their own looks directed at her; anger, sympathy, confusion, relief. She knew they wanted an explanation but she didn't really have one. Or at least not one that they would understand.

"Are you okay?" Casey finally spoke up, ending the silence in the room.

She nodded as she tried to avoid the stares. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Where were you?"

"I went go-karting with Tyler. I had a date with him remember?"

"I wanted to meet him, remember?" Casey countered.

"You were on a call."

"That doesn't mean you can take off and it sure as hell doesn't mean you can ignore my calls."

"They don't let you take your phone go karting." At least that part was true.

"You know what?" Severide interrupted. "Stop making excuses, Grace. You didn't get your way so you took off. Don't pretend this was all just some big misunderstanding."

"Severide," Dawson said.

"No, I picked her up and she was ready to run from me. I had to carry her to the car."

"Really?" Casey said, looking to Grace. "Are you going to tell me what you were thinking?"

Grace shrugged. "It's not like it matters. Everyone has already made up their mind on what I did or why I did it."

Severide shook his head. "Don't guilt trip us just because we don't give you our attention all the time."

Grace looked at him for a minute, his words hurt her. "Can I go upstairs?" She asked Casey.

Casey knew she needed space and if he ever wanted a real explanation from her, he needed to give it to her. "Yeah, but leave your phone. If you don't want to answer it, you don't need it."

Grace handed her phone to Casey and disappeared upstairs. She didn't slam the door, but Casey almost wished she would have. At least that would have meant she was mad, not hurt or upset. He could deal with an angry teenager, but he hated to see her cry. He sighed and looked at her phone.

"That was uncalled for, Severide." Dawson said. "You hurt her feelings."

"Yeah that was a little harsh." Mills agreed.

"I don't care. She's not going to pull crap like that and then make me feel guilty for calling her out on it." He explained. "How many calls did she ignore from us all?"

Casey scrolled through the missed calls, he had to admit there was quite a few of them. "I don't know, too many –" He trailed off and frowned at the screen.

"What is it?" Dawson asked when she noticed his frown.

"Seth called her and then he texted her." Casey sighed and turned to Jake.

"What?" Jake asked him and grabbed the phone. "He didn't call me."

Severide sighed and shook his head. "Damn it."

Mills looked around. "So is someone going to fill me in on who Seth is?"

"Their father," Dawson answered. "What did he want?"

"To talk to her and it looks like she answered one of the calls." Jake said. "Well, now it makes sense. You have to talk to her, Uncle Matt."

Casey nodded. "Yeah, bud, I will. Are you okay?"

Jake nodded and shrugged it off. "Yeah, it's not like I wanted to talk to him anyway."

"We should take off." Shay said. "Let you talk."

The others agreed and left the house to give them some space to think about what to do. Seth calling defiantly changed things and explained Grace's behaviour today. Her Dad had a way of getting in her head, making her think things she had nothing to do with were her fault and making her feel bad for not letting him be in her life. She had given him too many chances and every time he disappointed her. Jake was better at telling him off and ignoring him.

"I'm going to go talk to her." Casey said. "You sure you're okay?"

Jake nodded. "Yeah, but she's not."

Casey nodded and headed up the stairs and down the hall towards Grace's door. He could hear her crying from outside the door. He didn't bother to knock, he walked in and over to her. She was lying on the bed and turned away from him. He sighed and sat down, rubbing her back.

"Hey Gracie," he soothed. "Why didn't you tell me he called?"

"Things were finally good here," She mumbled. "I didn't want to ruin it."

"You wouldn't have ruined anything." He said firmly. "This isn't something you can handle on your own. He isn't supposed to contact you. You can't listen to him."

"He apologized."

Casey frowned. "What?"

Grace sat up and leaned against the headboard. "I answered the call to tell him to stop calling and texting and to leave me alone. He told me he would but he wanted me to know he was sorry and he was getting help."

"Grace he was probably just saying that."

She shook her head. "I called the treatment facility he said he was at. He was telling the truth and he's been in there since we left. He said when he hurt me that night and we left, that was his rock bottom. He's never gotten help before Uncle Matt. He's trying and I don't know what to do."

Casey sighed. "It's good that he's getting help but it doesn't change all the things he's done. He can't just apologize and expect everyone to just forgive and forget all of those things."

"Isn't that what family does?"

"Family doesn't hurt you or abandon you the way he did." Casey said firmly.

"Grandma killed Grandpa," She said slowly. "You forgave her."

"That took fifteen years and she didn't hurt me directly like he did to you." Casey sighed. "I don't want him around you or Jake. Not for a while anyway."

"I'm just afraid that if I don't talk to him, he'll quit the program."

"That isn't for you to worry about and he can't put that pressure on you."

"I don't know what to do, Uncle Matt." She said as fresh tears fell.

Casey pulled her to his chest and wrapped his arms around her tightly. "I'll take care of it okay? I'll call him tomorrow and hear him out and figure it out. I'll make sure he stays in the program."

Grace nodded and pulled back when Jake appeared in the doorway. "So," He said as he held up two movies. "Classic Friday Night Lights or much needed laughs from Step Brothers?"

"Step Brothers." Casey and Grace said at the same time.

Grace wiped the tears off her face and followed her brother and uncle downstairs for some much needed family time.

**A/N: I requested reviews because I wanted to get a general idea on how many people are actually following this story. I don't exactly have a long term plan for this story and I'm sort of just making it up as I go. So why should I put my time and effort into something people aren't reading? Fortunately for all you great people, I did receive many reviews and I appreciate them all. But, I do not appreciate being told that I shouldn't "demand" reviews. It's my story, I'll do what I want. This story will continue as long as there is an audience for it. **


	13. Chapter 13

The twins were sitting at the table eating breakfast as Casey paced back in forth in front of them. He wasn't sure how to bring this up, how to explain it or how they would take it. It would be nice to put everything behind them and start over but the past has a way of catching up with you eventually.

"Okay," He sighed and turned to face them, putting his hands on the back of the chair and leaning forward slightly. "It's been ninety days and your mom has completed the program."

They were quiet as they looked at each other. "So, now what?" Jake asked after a few moments.

"Now, I take her back to California and get her into a longer program and a better rehab facility."

"When?" Jake asked again. "Why California?"

"They have some good ones and for insurance reasons she has to be in the state she was living in or they won't cover it." He sighed. "I'm taking her today, after I drop you guys off. I'll only be gone for the weekend and Severide and Shay are coming over to stay with you guys."

"You're going to miss my game." Jake complained. "It's my first game and I'm starting."

"I know and I'm sorry buddy," Casey nodded. "But I'll see you play next week and Severide will be there."

"Why do you have to go anyway?" He asked. "Why can't she do it herself?"

"I need to know she is actually going to go." Casey hesitated. "And there is some legal stuff I have to work out with her and your Dad."

Grace looked up and made eye contact with Casey. "You're going to see him?"

Casey nodded. "Yeah, I want to see for myself that he is doing what he said."

"They couldn't get us back could they?" Jake said slowly.

"I don't know." Casey answered honestly. "Maybe, but they won't be able to even try until they are both out of rehab."

"Aren't we old enough to say where we want to live?" Grace asked. "I looked it up and it said we get to choose."

"You get to choose which parent you want to live with if they aren't together."

"But we don't want to live with either of them." Jake said. "And I don't care what the law says, they aren't making me go back to California with them."

"We can't go back there, Uncle Matt." Grace added. "We'll go to court or the police or social services or wherever you go to make sure we don't have to."

"Whoa, just calm down." Casey said. "You're getting ahead of yourselves. Right now I am your guardian and they are in rehab. You aren't going anywhere."

"Temporary guardian," Grace corrected. "How do we make that permanent?"

Casey shook his head. "I don't know. Let's just get through this weekend and maybe I'll have more answers when I get back. You need to get ready for school." Casey nodded towards the door.

Dropping the twins off at school and saying goodbye was hard for Casey as he knew it caused them some anxiety. It's the reason he asked Severide and Shay to stay with them at his house. He didn't want to move them again or make them think he wasn't coming back. It was only the weekend but they were pretty damaged from their parents and any disappoint from him could be disastrous.

He had to go with Sarah to LA though. His sister needed him, and more importantly, he needed to make sure she followed through on her promises. It was going to be hard for her not to see the twins. She already hadn't seen them since the accident and now she wouldn't see them for probably another three months. They were still healing and she knew that, but it didn't make it any less easier to hear that your kids don't want to visit you.

Casey had them write letters last week when he found out Seth had been trying to contact Grace. He figured it would be a good thing for everyone. The twins could say what they want without having to worrying about the stress associated with actually being near their parents and Seth and Sarah got to hear from their kids. It may not all be nice, but at least they are supportive of the rehab process.

He pulled up in front of the rehab facility and helped Sarah with her bag before turning to her. She smiled, she looked a lot better. "Hi Matt."

"Sarah," He said as he reached out to hug her. "You look good."

"Yeah," she nodded. "I feel good."

"How's Christie?" She asked. "Are the twins staying with her?"

"She's good and no, she's out of town this weekend." Casey said. "It's Christie and Jim's anniversary this weekend so they went on a mini vacation. Violet is with Jim's parents."

Sarah nodded. "That's nice. Maybe on day I'll get to meet Violet."

"Maybe," Casey said. "Remember my co-working Kelly? He's staying with the twins this weekend at the house with Shay, the paramedic."

"Who could forget Kelly Severide." Sarah grinned at her brother.

Casey gave her a smile and shook his head as she climbed into the truck and they drove to the airport. She talked about the program and her progress for a few minutes but she wanted to know everything about the twins. Casey couldn't help himself from telling her everything, he liked bragging about them and he felt like she needed to know.

As they boarded the plane and waited in their seats, it suddenly became extremely apparent to him as to why she asked him to go with her. Sarah was terrified of flying, and that kind of stress on an alcoholic wasn't a good thing.

"I forgot you hate flying."

She nodded with a weak smile; the same smile Grace does when she is trying to keep it together. "Never got used to it."

"Just breathe." He soothed as the plane began to take off. Once in the air she settled down enough for her to carry out a conversation. "Did you know Seth was in rehab?"

"No," she said slowly. "Have you talked to him?"

Casey nodded. "Once, he called Grace so I called him and talked to him."

"And he's actually in rehab?"

"Yeah, I called the facility and spoke with his doctors. He's been there since you left."

"Does he want something?"

Casey hesitated. "He wants to talk to you in a counselling session about the twins."

"I don't know if I can do that, Matt." She shook her head. "I want to, but I don't know."

"I'll be there, if that helps." He said. "He asked me to come and social services will be there."

"I signed temporary custody over to you," She frowned. "What does social services want?"

"He didn't sign custody over to me though." Casey explained. "I think he's going to try to get them closer to him."

"Can he do that?"

"Probably, he is their father." Casey sighed when he saw the worry on her face. "You can't go in there ready to fight with him. You have to reason with him. Tell him the twins are better with family than in foster care and that they started a new school and have new friends. Try to get him to hold off on the custody issue until you have both completed rehab."

"Okay," She nodded. "But you know how Seth is, if he wants something, he won't stop."

"I know." Casey said. "It will be okay, Sarah. I'll figure it out."

**CHICAGO**

Severide picked Grace and Jake up from school at the end of the day. They didn't have much time for anything as Jake had to get ready for his game and Grace had to cheer. He was glad they had activities to keep them busy because he could tell they were affected by Casey leaving.

"Do you guys want to have some people over before the game?" He offered. "I can order some pizzas or something."

"Really?" Jake asked, not sure if he was serious.

Severide frowned with a smirk. "Yeah, why not."

Severide thought maybe having their friends over would help and he wanted to prove he was the fun adult around. He was glad that they only invited a few friends each though. He hung out downstairs with Jake, Nick and Tyler while Grace, Rachel and Claire were occupying the bathroom.

They ate pizza and watched some sports, talking about the game while they waited for the girls. When they finally came down the stairs Severide had to really hold back not to say something. He forgot how much makeup teenage girls wear, especially cheerleaders, and how short and skimpy those cheerleading outfits were. The girls didn't have time to eat, not that they wanted to anyway. They took two separate cars to the game and Severide sat in the stands with much of the fire department.

"Look how cute Grace looks!" Dawson said when Severide sat down beside her with Shay beside him. Mills was on the other side of Dawson with Otis, Herrmann and even Boden showed up.

"Too much makeup and those outfits show way too much skin," Herrmann commented. "I don't like it."

Severide laughed and nodded. "I'm glad someone agrees."

"I used to drool over cheerleaders when I was in high school," Mills said shaking his head. "Now I know why my Dad used to freak out when Elise left the house in her uniform."

Shay rolled her eyes. "She's fifteen guys, it's completely innocent."

"Cheerleaders I went to high school with were anything but innocent." Severide mumbled and Shay hit him, making him laugh again. "I'm just saying."

Grace came running over and smiled. "Dawson I need you to fix my hair!" She said as she sat in front of her and pulled out her ponytail. "It keeps falling out."

"Do you have bobby pins?" She asked as Grace held up two. Dawson put her hair back in a the ponytail but left a piece out to wrap around to hide the elastic before securing it underneath with the bobby pins. "Alright, that should hold it. Jump around and see if it works."

"Do not jump around." Severide added quickly.

Grace turned her head to grin at him as Shay rolled her eyes. "Thanks Dawson!"

She tore off the bleachers and back to her friends just as the two basketball teams were coming out of the locker rooms for warm up. The cheerleaders were lined up on the baseline in their home end as the guys took shots. If they got it in, and were dating a cheerleader, they got to kiss her. It was tradition and although Grace thought it was cute, she was nervous about everyone seeing her and Tyler kiss.

He took a three point shot and it went in easily. He grinned at her before running over and quickly dropping a kiss to her lips. She giggled slightly as he ran away and turned to Claire to avoid looking into the stands.

Dawson and Shay smirked when they saw Tyler kiss Grace, and tried to hold their laughter when they noticed the guy's reactions. "What a little show off." Severide said.

"Oh come on," Shay said. "You just said atta boy when Jake did it to Rachel."

"That's different." He tried to explain. "He's a guy."

"And she is someone's daughter. It's not different at all." Dawson laughed. "What a double standard you boys have."

"Hey, the double standard has been around forever." Herrmann said. "And for good reason."

The game started and everyone watched as the team easily made this first game of the year a victory. Jake was on his game with twelve points, right behind Tyler's fifteen. Shay and Severide waited for the twins outside of the gym. Mills and Dawson waited with them, but everyone else had to get home.

"Hey, good game buddy," Severide greeted when he saw Jake.

"Thanks." Jake grinned. "Nick is having some people over to celebrate, can we go?"

Severide was a little thrown by the question and had to adjust to step into the parent role as he looked at Shay. "Yeah, I guess."

"Do you need one of us to pick you up?" She asked.

"No, Tyler said he would bring us home." Grace said.

"Okay, yeah, be home by midnight." Severide said, sounding more like a question then a statement like he meant it.

Shay nodded. "Yes, midnight. No drinking either."

"Definitely no drinking." Severide said as he eyed Jake.

Jake nodded. "No drinking, got it."

"Ready to go?" Tyler said coming up behind Grace.

"We haven't really met," Severide said as he took a step forward and stuck his hand out. "I'm Kelly Severide."

"Tyler." He nodded and shook his hand.

Severide didn't let go and he let his voice drop a notch at he looked Tyler in the eye. "Treat her right."

Tyler nodded, not breaking eye contact and not flinching. "Yes sir."

Shay tried to hide her smile as the two separated. "Alright, well call us if you need us. Be careful and remember, midnight."

Grace and Jake nodded again and tore off towards Tyler's car. Severide and Shay watched them go, he wasn't sure why, but something about it made him nervous. He shook his head and followed Shay to the car.


	14. Chapter 14

Benny Severide pulled up to Casey's house early the next morning. He thought maybe he'd cook breakfast or take them all out. He had been spending time with Kelly lately and when he heard he was watching the twins and thought he'd test out his grand-parenting skills for if he ever became one.

He was about to get out of his car when another pulled into the driveway. He checked his watch and frowned, it wasn't even seven yet. He watched as Jake jumped out with a grin on his face and headed towards the door. Benny climbed out of his own car, noticing the driver of the other car was a girl and watched as Jake tried to quietly unlock the door.

"Watch out for those creaky stairs." Benny said as he came up behind Jake, making him jump.

"B-Benny," Jake stuttered. "I was-"

"Sneaking in?" He asked. "Yeah, I can see that."

"No," Jake said slowly. "I was just out earlier for a run and I don't want to wake anyone up."

"Out for run?" Benny raised his eyebrows. "In jeans and a leather jacket?"

Jake swallowed nervously. "I meant a walk. I needed to clear my head."

"Well I'll make it real clear for you," Benny said. "You get in that house and take a seat at the kitchen table."

Jake nodded and turned to walk into the house. He hung up his jacket and kicked off his shoes and made his way to the table. The house was quiet and he mentally cursed Benny for catching him. He knew Shay was at work and he could hear the showering running so he could have easily got in the house unnoticed.

The shower stopped and he heard Benny make his way upstairs. He listened to the muffled voices and knew from the tone that he was dead. Benny came down the stairs a few minutes later followed by an extremely angry looking Severide.

"You better have one hell of an explanation for why you were out until seven in the morning!" He growled.

"I didn't mean to." Jake tried to explain, noticing how childish he sounded. "Rachel invited me to her house because her parents were gone and we were watching a movie and we fell asleep. Kelly," He said with sincerity in his eyes. "I swear I didn't do this on purpose."

Severide stood there, just fuming and tried to calm down. "Go to your room."

"You don't believe me?" Jake frowned.

"I don't know, Jake." He answered honestly. "All I know is that I trusted you and you broke that trust.

I have a hard job and I'm tired after a shift. You knew that and I think you took advantage of it. I trusted that you'd be home at midnight like you promised. Lena managed to get home an hour before curfew. But you know, the worst part is that if my Dad didn't catch you, you would have never told me what happened. If it was all a big misunderstanding, why were you trying to sneak back in and why didn't you call me the minute you woke up?"

"I don't know," Jake shook his head. "I guess I didn't want you to get mad. I really didn't mean to stay out all night. I was tired too and we just fell asleep."

Severide looked at his Dad and sighed. "I need some time, so just go to your room until I can figure things out."

Jake frowned again before getting up and kicking the chair as he walked out of the room. He was frustrated that no one believed him. He may not have the best track record, but he was telling the truth and it upset him that Severide didn't believe him.

Severide listened to him stomp up the stairs and slam his door. He sighed and shook his head, running a hand over his face before pulling out a chair and sitting down. "Do you think he's telling the truth?"

"I'm not sure." Benny shrugged. "But if you would have pulled this stunt at his age, and then did that, I would have beaten your ass."

"I remember your parenting methods, Dad." Severide shook his head. "He's not my kid."

"No, but you are responsible for him right now and he can't get away with that crap." Benny said. "Matt needs to be more firm with that boy or things are going to get out of control really fast."

"What is wrong with Jake?" Grace said, stumbling into the kitchen half awake.

"Did he wake you up?" Severide asked.

She shrugged. "I don't really sleep well when Matt isn't here."

"Come here," He said and let her sit on his knee. "Any nightmares?"

"No, not really." She leaned into his chest and yawned. "So what's wrong with Jake?"

"I caught him trying to sneak in," Benny said as he poured himself a cup of coffee and handed one to Severide. "He didn't come home last night."

Severide felt Grace tense and he couldn't help but exchange a glance with his father as he frowned. "Did you know anything about that?" Severide asked.

Grace was glad she couldn't see his face in that moment. "Well, I knew he went to Rachel's and that her parents weren't home."

Severide shifted her so that he could look at her. "I asked you last night where he was and you told me he was still at the party."

"I know but I didn't want to tell you he was at Rachel's." She confessed. "I thought he'd be home on time and technically he was at the party so I didn't lie."

Severide raised his eyebrows at her. "I thought we already had a conversation about you not telling the whole story?" He said, referring to when she didn't tell Casey about the party Jake threw.

"We did, but I didn't want to get involved." she sighed. "It's unfair that I always get in trouble for stuff he does."

"You aren't in trouble, Grace." Severide said. "I just don't like that you lied to me, and you did lie to me."

"Okay that's fair," She nodded. "I won't do it again, or I'll try not to. Saying I won't do it again is probably a lie."

Severide smirked. "Alright, I'll take that."

They were interrupted by the sound of Jake coming down the stairs. Severide lifted Grace off his lap and got up to see what he was doing. He had a bag and was putting on his shoes when Severide reached the door. He surveyed the area in a few seconds and shook his head.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm leaving." Jake said as he stood up and grabbed his jacket. "You don't want to believe me, you think I planned the whole thing then I'm just going to stay at Rachel's until Matt gets back."

"Like hell you are." Severide said. "You aren't going anywhere except back to your room."

"Yes I am." Jake said as he opened the door and glared at Severide when he held it. "If I'm going to get blamed for something I didn't do, I might as well go out and do it, since I'm going to get punished for it either way."

"Do you really think you can get passed me?" Severide said. "I'm a fire fighter Jake. I can easily throw you over my shoulder and carry you back upstairs."

"You're going to have to knock me out first if you want to do that." Jake said.

"If you know what is good for you Jake," Benny interrupted, growing irritated. "You will close that door and get back upstairs right now."

Jake glared at him. "You have no right to tell me what to do."

"Boy, if you walk about that door, my belt is going to have a conversation with your ass that you really aren't going to like." Benny stared him down. Grace looked at Severide who seemed less surprised than her, but still pretty surprised his Dad just said that.

"You can't do that." Jake said after a moment.

Benny crossed his arms. "Try me."

Jake faltered for a moment, he didn't know what to do. No one had ever said anything like that to him before, let alone done it. He looked to Severide, who gave him a look that basically said your choice. He waited another moment before shutting the door.

Benny nodded. "Good choice. Now go to your room."

Jake looked to Severide again who nodded towards the stairs. "Go on."

Severide watched him walk up stairs with an expression mixed between confusion and nervous. Once he heard Jake close his door he turned to his Dad with a bewildered look. "What the hell was that?"

"I told you, you have to be more firm."

"You threatened to spank a fifteen year old!"

"And it worked." Benny nodded. "Look, boys are different, they need a strong hand. I raised you this way, you're fine. If you ask me, it is exactly what kids these days need."

"Dad, he's not your kid." Severide exclaimed.

"I won't let a fifteen year old run the show, and neither should you." Benny said, pointing at him to make it more effective. "If you're worried about what Matt is going to think, I'll talk to him. But the point is, he listened and he is in his room right now. So go up there and talk to him so we can all go out for breakfast."

Severide sighed and shook his head and he started to climb the stairs. He had to admit, the threat did seem to work, but it doesn't mean it was the right thing to do. He knocked once before opening the door and stepping into the room. Jake was sitting on his bed with his laptop and barely looked up when Severide walked in. He grabbed the chair from his desk and put it in front of the bed and sat down.

"I want the truth now, Jake." Severide said calmly. "If you tell me it really was a mistake, I'll believe you."

Jake looked up at him with an expression that was hard to read. But Severide pinned it as hurt. "I didn't do it on purpose. We fell asleep after," He paused. "Well you know."

Severide looked down, trying to hide his smile. "Were you safe?"

Jake looked at him briefly before looking away. "Yeah."

"Okay, good." Severide nodded. "So you left the party to, do that, and you ended up falling asleep."

"Well yeah, you know how girls like to cuddle after." Jake looked at him seriously.

This time Severide couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. "Yeah, I know that Jake."

"Okay, well that's what happened." He said. "She put a movie on, and we were cuddling and we fell asleep. I swear, that's the truth. I woke up and I freaked out and she drove me home. You can even call her and ask him." Jake said as he held his phone out.

Severide took his phone and put it on the night stand. "I don't have to. I believe you Jake. I should have believed you from the start."

"I understand why you didn't," Jake said. "I've messed up before."

"Yeah you did," Severide nodded. "But you paid the price for that so I shouldn't have held it against you."

"Are you going to tell Matt?"

Severide nodded. "I think I have to buddy."

Jake sighed. "Yeah okay."

"Come on," Severide said as he stood up. "Let's go out for breakfast."

"So, I'm not in trouble?" Jake asked slowly.

"No, but you aren't going out tonight, neither is Grace though. I want you both home tonight."

"Okay," Jake hesitated. "You're Dad, he's not going to, I mean he wouldn't actually-"

"I honestly don't know." Severide said. "He's a crazy old man, so just behave and nothing will happen."

Jake nodded and followed Severide back downstairs to head out for breakfast. They ate breakfast and then Benny thought it would be a good idea to take them to their grandfather's grave before he had to leave. It was kind of sad for the twins to see the grave, to know that they'd never get the chance to meet him. But it was nice, in a sad way.

Severide spent the day with the twins doing a bunch of activities. They went to the batting cages first, got some hot dogs for lunch and then he took them fishing in the afternoon. He was surprised, he thought living in California, they would know how to fish, but they didn't. They spent the entire afternoon learning how and he was surprised they actually had fun doing it. Most kids and teenagers get bored after a while, but he figured they liked the peacefulness. It was calming and relaxing and that's why he liked it.

They went home to find Dawson and Mills over. Shay and Dawson had just gotten off shift and Shay invited them over for dinner. Severide was glad for that because it meant he didn't have to cook. Mills and Dawson were both cooking and they had a good evening at home. The guys watched a hockey game that was on after dinner and the girls bounced between watching the game and gossiping in the kitchen. For staying in on a Saturday night, it was a pretty good night for the twins.

The next morning Casey arrived home earlier than expected. He had sorted everything out and caught the red-eye last night. He hadn't slept much all night and he was tired, but he was excited to see the twins. He had missed them, and it surprised him how much he had missed them. He opened the door and put his bag down, taking off his jacket and hanging it up. He had just kicked his shoes of when he heard the steps creak.

He looked up to see a smiling Grace. "Uncle Matt!" She said and ran down the remaining steps, jumping into his arms.

He laughed and hugged her tightly. "Hi Gracie."

"You're home early?" She said when he put her down. "Is everything okay?"

He nodded. "Everything is fine. Why are you up so early?"

Grace shrugged and he noticed the dark circles under her eyes. She could feel his scrutiny and she knew he was starting to worry. "I was using the bathroom and I heard the door open."

"Oh, I see." He nodded. "Do you want to watch some TV with me? I know you probably want to sleep in, but I didn't get much sleep on the plane so I want to just relax. I'll probably fall asleep too."

Grace nodded and followed him into the living room. He turned the TV on and found an old black and white movie. For some reason she really liked those but he wasn't sure why. He turned the volume on low, handed her a blanket and sat down on one end of the couch.

He put his feet up on the table and threw a blank over himself as she wrapped the other blanket around herself, stretched out and laid her head in his lap. It didn't take long for her to drift off to sleep and Casey was glad when she did. He knew she had problems sleeping when he was home, so he couldn't imagine what it was like when he wasn't. He figured she didn't sleep much at all this weekend and that worried him. But he only worried for a few minutes before he drifted off to sleep as well.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: This chapter has a lot going on but I wanted to incorporate a few things that were going on in the show into the story. So it's a bit jumpy!**

-HOME –

Grace made her way down the stairs but quickly retreated when she heard a women's voice. She listened for a moment, trying to hear their muffled conversation, before Jake came up behind her. She made a gesture to silence him and he listened along with her.

"It's Heather." Grace whispered.

"Did she spend the night?" Jake asked, his voice equally as low as his sister's.

Grace nodded and jumped when she heard the doorbell. Jake pulled her back off the stairs and around the corner into the hall as Casey answered the door. They were out of sight, but the twins could easily hear the conversation at the door from the top of the stairs.

"My Dad wanted me to drop that off, his way of apologizing for you catching that elbow," Severide said. "And for the Jake thing too."

"Thanks, I've had worse than an elbow and as for Jake," Casey said. "I may owe your Dad because Jake has been perfect the whole week." Grace grinned at Jake but he just rolled his eyes in annoyance and embarrassment.

"Matt do you have any mouth wash?" Heather called and everyone froze.

Grace and Jake listened as Severide and Casey began to fight. It was less of a fight because it was mainly Severide yelling assumptions without letting Casey explain. Darden was a sour subject between them and Heather wasn't the solution. If anything, she was like adding gasoline to the fire. A fire that everyone thought had been extinguished, but it only takes one spark to reignite, and that spark was Heather.

The twins waited until Heather had left before finally coming downstairs. Casey was ready to pretend nothing happened and go on like any other morning. He was hoping the twins heard nothing and knew nothing of what went on with Heather or Severide, but he knew they probably heard something.

"Good morning," Casey greeted when they walked into the kitchen.

"Did you have a good night?" Jake teased with a grin.

"What?" Casey frowned.

"Well, if I had a girl sleep over I'd have a good night." Jake said as he tried to keep from laughing.

Casey tried to hold back a grin but he failed. "Amused are you?"

"Oh very," Jake nodded. "If you can have a girl stay over, I can too, right?"

"Does this mean Tyler can sleep over?"

"No." Casey said firmly, mainly to Grace, but he made sure to look at Jake as well. "Heather is a friend and only a friend. She fell asleep watching a movie last night and she spent the night on the couch."

"Jake used the same story last weekend with Rachel."

"It is not a story. That is what happened and it is all that happened." Casey turned to Jake. "We still need to have a discussion about you and what happened last weekend."

Jake groaned. "I don't need the sex talk or the respecting women talk."

"Maybe not, but you do need a respecting your uncle talk and a talk about following rules."

Jake sighed. "Fine, but can we do it after school and without company."

Grace glared at her brother as Casey nodded. "Get your stuff; you're going to be late."

- SCHOOL –

"Did you hear?" Tyler asked Grace when she met him in the cafeteria at lunch.

She frowned. "Hear what?"

He paused as she sat down. "There was a shooting at a fire department. I don't know which one and I don't know any details."

Grace paled, she could feel the blood leave her face and she froze. She simply stared at Tyler as he explained where he had heard the story, but she wasn't really listening to him. She snapped out of her state and immediately searched for Jake. She didn't see him and figured he was with Rachel.

Grace took off in a hurry out of the cafeteria and towards Rachel's locker. Tyler was close behind her and he followed her as she first went into the hall Rachel's locker was, the hall Jake's locker was and finally to the gym where she found them. Jake knew something was wrong the moment he saw her and he walked over to meet her half way.

"There was a shooting at one of the fire stations. What if it's Matt? What if he's hurt or dead? What are we going to do? We have to do something!"

Jake grabbed a hold of her shoulders and shook her to get her to stop and calm down. "Grace. Stop."

"We have to go there!" She said. "I can't stay here and wait for them to give us bad news."

"I'll call him," Jake said. "Just calm down, take a deep breath."

Jake kept an arm around her as he dialed Casey. Grace took a few breaths but Jake could feel her heart pounding. "Uncle Matt, hey, are you alright?"

"Yeah, Jake I'm fine." Casey said. "No one was hurt."

"Well, what happened?"

"We aren't sure just yet," he said. "I'm okay, but I want you to go home after school instead of coming to the station."

Jake nodded. "Yeah, no problem."

Grace grabbed the phone from Jake. "Uncle Matt?"

Casey sighed, he could tell she had been crying. "Gracie, everything is okay."

"I heard and I got so scared and I hoped it wasn't your station but I knew it was because bad things always happen to us." She was crying again and all he could do was listen. "I don't want to be at school, can you come get us? Can you take the shift off? What if they come back?"

"Grace, Grace," Casey tried to calm her down. "Stay at school. The police are here, nothing is going to happen. I'm fine, everyone is fine and everything will be okay. I have to get back to work and you need to go to class. We'll talk about it when you're home."

Grace nodded and handed the phone back to Jake. He pocketed it and wrapped her in a strong hug for a few minutes. Rachel took her to the bathroom to fix her make-up and Tyler and Jake made their way to class.

"Grace has anxiety issues," Jake explained. "She always has, even when we were little. She gets worked up easily and she has panic attacks sometimes."

"I didn't know any of that."

Jake shrugged. "She doesn't like to tell people. It was real problem for years but she has it under control for the most part now."

"Except when big things happen?"

Jake nodded. "Exactly. She can manage the little problems and daily stresses but the big stuff throws her overboard."

"What can I do to help?"

Jake stopped and looked at his friend. "Just be there."

- HOME –

Today was a hard shift. Every time Casey is on a call that involves kids his mind goes to the twins. He's professional and he can shoulder a lot of things, but he can't help but picture them when he sees the horrible things that could happen to them. The fact that he's already seen them in one accident doesn't help either. Some things can't be unseen.

With gangs calling on kids that young, it scared Casey. The twins lived in a bad neighbourhood in LA with drug addicted parents, it's a wonder they never got involved in anything. If they could get through all that, he wasn't going to let them slip up here. Between that call and the gunshots, it wasn't a good day for firehouse 51.

Casey walked through the door and hung up his jacket. He rounded the corner and was never happier to see Christie in his life. He sighed in relief and smiled at her. He saw her do the same, but for different reasons. He was relieved because he knew she had picked the twins up and probably calmed Grace down. She was relieved he was okay.

"I didn't know you were back," he explained. "Or I would have called."

"It's okay," She shook her head. "I only got back a few hours ago and I heard right away. Grace called me so I picked them up."

"Are they here?"

She nodded. "Yeah they're upstairs with Violet."

"Are they okay?"

"I think so," Christie nodded. "Jake seems okay, Grace I'm a little worried about."

"I'm worried about them both."

"Welcome to parenthood," She smiled. "What happened in LA?"

"Seth was being difficult as usual," Casey said as he ran a tired hand over his eyes. "I got him to agree to leave everything as is until one of them is out of rehab."

"But he wants them back with him?"

"He wants his family back together," Casey shook his head. "He put on quite the show but my lawyer says he probably won't get what he wants. Even if they do get back together, and I swear I will kill Sarah if that happens, the twins can stay with me if that's what they want but they'll have to tell it to a judge and I'd rather keep them out of court."

Christie nodded. "I asked my lawyer about it, he said that the court won't give them custody back if it would cause hardship on the twins and I think it would."

"I agree," he sighed. "So basically we have to wait and hope it all works out."

"Uncle Matt!" Violet yelled as she came running down the stairs holding a bracelet. "Look what I just made!"

Casey picked her up and smiled. "Did you make it for me?"

"No!" She laughed. "Boys don't wear jewelry."

"Violet get your stuff," Christie said. "We have to go."

Casey put her down and turned to his sister. "You don't have to go."

"Jim is at home making dinner and his parents are over, so unfortunately we do have to go." She rolled her eyes and Casey smirked. "Besides, I think someone needs you."

Casey turned to see Grace standing at the bottom of the stairs. She had a look one her face that resembled a lost kid in the grocery store. He smiled at her and held out an arm. "Come here, baby."

Grace walked over to him and into his embrace. She tried not to cry but it was hard for her. He smiled and rubbed her back. "See? I'm fine, just like I told you."

"Yeah, but it never seems to stop," she mumbled into his chest. "Gun shots this week, last week you got burned and then there was that cop that tried to kill you,"

"What?" He said as he pulled her back. "Where did you hear that?"

Grace hesitated and looked away. "I just heard it."

Casey moved his hand off her shoulder and used it to cup her chin, forcing her to look at him. "Who told you that?"

"Tyler," she mumbled. "His Dad is a detective."

Casey raised his eyebrows and let go of her. "Why did Tyler tell you that?"

"He thought I knew. He was trying to make me feel better by comparing this to that." She said. "Why are you mad?"

"I'm not mad. I just didn't want you to know about that." Casey shook his head. "That's over with and you don't need to worry about it or anything else. I'm the parent remember?"

"That's the point. You're the parent now." She said. "Which means you're another person that we could lose."

"Grace." Casey said firmly. "How many times do I have to tell you that you aren't going to lose me?"

"You don't know that." Grace snapped. "You don't know that something isn't going to happen."

"Why are you so positive that something bad is always right around the corner? You either have me one foot out the door or you insist that danger is always ahead. You can't be in control of everything that goes on and you can't be afraid to live, Grace. Your fear of losing someone or having something bad happen is crippling you. It's got you so scared that you are missing out on some great things. You are fifteen years old and you have your entire life ahead of you. That's a long time to be worried and scared. Don't let fear control you and don't let it limit you."

Grace's forehead creased as she let his words sink in. He was right, and she smiled when she realized it. "When did you get so profound?"

Casey smirked. "Are you okay?" She nodded. "Okay, I need to talk to Jake."

One down, one to go, Casey thought as he made his way to Jake's room. He knocked briefly before opening the door and walking into Jake's room. He cleared his voice to interrupt the two teenagers who were making out on the bed and seemed to be oblivious to the world around them. They separated quickly, Rachel jumping off the bed in a hurry, blushing with embarrassment.

"I'll be leaving now," she mumbled as she grabbed her bag and walked out of the room.

Casey nodded at her as she walked by before turning back to Jake and crossing his arms. "No girls in your room, got it?"

"Right, they can only sleep on the couch," Jake smirked with a little anger in his voice. "I forgot."

Casey raised his eyebrows at his nephew. "Would you like to try that answer again?"

Jake looked at his uncle for a moment before breaking eye contract and mumbling a "No, sir."

"Yeah, that's what I thought." Casey said. "Come down for dinner."

"Why didn't you tell us about the cop?"

Casey sighed and turned back around. "Why didn't you tell me about your Dad?"

Jake shrugged and nodded. "Okay, fair enough."

Casey grinned, it was always easier to talk to Jake about these things. "It was done and over with by the time you two got here. I didn't see the need in worrying you about it."

"That makes sense," Jake nodded. "And for the record, Rachel was with Violet and Grace the whole time until they went downstairs. So she was only in here for about five minutes."

Casey gave him a look. "The rule stays the same, regardless of the time limit."

"I know but I didn't want you to think we were locked up in my room the entire time." Jake said. "I know Severide told you what happened and I don't want you to think Rachel's some kind of-"

"Hold it," Casey interrupted. "I don't think she's anything and I'm not going to judge her, or you, for what you did. I only hope you are being respectful and safe. But I'll tell you one thing, the fact that you don't want me to think poorly of your girlfriend shows how much you care about her."

"I do," Jake nodded. "More than any other girl I've dated."

"Well that's saying something." Grace said as she appeared in the doorway. "You've had so many girlfriends I lost count."

"Yeah, sorry I can't count them on one finger like you can."

Grace glared at him. "I'd rather be selective with my dating than a man whore like you."

"You aren't selective. No one wanted to date you."

"Alright, that's enough." Casey said. "I can only handle so much dating talk for one night."

-A Few Days Later -

Grace woke up screaming, covered in sweat and breathless. Her dream scared her so much she started crying and had to make sure that it was in fact, only a dream. She jumped out of her bed and swung her door open just as Casey was rushing to check on her. He stumbled into the room, half asleep and Grace lunged at him, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist.

"Grace," Casey flicked on the light and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"It was a dream," she mumbled. "The fire and you didn't make it out and they had your body on the stretcher and you were burned and they covered you up and-"

"Okay, okay," Casey shook her slightly to get her to calm down. "I'm fine Grace, it's okay, it was just a dream." He ran a hand down the back of her head and cupped her chin. "Okay?"

She nodded. "Yeah, okay."

"Alright, do you want to go back to bed?"

She shook her head. "No, not really."

Casey noticed she was shaking, her nerves had to be shot and she was still a little breathless. He figured it had to be one lucid dream to cause that much damage. "Come on, I'll make you hot chocolate or something."

Grace followed Casey downstairs and sat at the kitchen table as he stood by the stove to boil water. She was calming down, or at least trying to, but she felt bad for waking him up. She was glad he didn't have to work tomorrow and that she didn't have school.

"I took some new pictures of the dog," Casey said in an effort to get her to stop replaying her dream in her head. She picked up his phone that was lying on the table and went to the pictures. She smiled a little as she flipped through them.

"Why don't you and Dawson just get together?" Grace asked when she saw the picture of the two of them in front of the bar. They looked happy and natural together.

Casey looked at her shocked. "Where did that come from?"

Grace held up his phone to show the picture. "So Heather sleeps over the other night, then you go door hunting and cute picture taking with Dawson and you just had coffee with Hallie."

"What does that have to do with me getting together with Dawson?"

Grace rolled her eyes. "Are you kidding? You two belong together, the tension is crazy."

"It's not a movie Grace." Casey said as he put a mug in front of her and sat down at the table.

"But you like her?" Grace grinned.

"It doesn't matter, she's with Mills."

"That's weird if you ask me."

Casey frowned. "You love Mills."

"Yeah, like a brother," she said. "And I may have had a slight crush on him at first but I meant it's weird that Dawson is so into him. They don't seem like a match."

"Oh, but Dawson and I are?"

"Well duh," She laughed. "Seriously, Uncle Matt, you two would be perfect."

"Does this mean you don't like Heather and Hallie?"

"I thought you said there isn't anything going on with Heather?"

"There isn't, but what if there was? And what about Hallie?"

"Heather is always going to be Andy's wife to you and she has Andy's kids, it would never work. You'd never be able to get over that." She said. "And Hallie, I really wish she would have wanted kids."

"You and me both," he smiled. "Grace, I'm fine and my love life is off limits to you."

"You comment on mine." She argued.

"That's because you're my kid –" Casey paused when it slipped out and he looked to Grace to see her reaction but he couldn't place it.

Grace was quiet for a minute as she stared at him. "Exactly, so I should get a say in who you date too."

Casey nodded. "Alright, fair enough. Go ahead then."

"I like Hallie, I've always liked Hallie and she's been around since I was a little kid," she said. "But has she really changed?"

Casey sighed. "I don't know, maybe."

"So what are you going to do?"

"Nothing," he said. "But you've reminded me, I still haven't met Tyler."

Grace groaned. "It's not a big deal."

"Oh yes it is," Casey grinned. "Invite him over for dinner. I'd like to get to know him."

"Only if Dawson comes."

"Grace," Casey warned with a look.

"That's the deal, take it or leave it." She smirked as she tried to be serious.

Casey raised a brow at his niece and grinned. "Alright Gracie, but if you try to play match maker I will break out every baby picture I have and every embarrassing story."

"That's mean!" Grace laughed. "I won't have to play match maker Uncle Matt, you'll see."


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Sorry for the delay, I've been REALLY busy! I also had a bit of writer's block because the show has been on break! This chapter is pretty Grace oriented but it sets up for a few plot points for the future. Please review! (I only got two reviews for the last chapter which was one of the reasons I took so long to update…so you should review and let me know what you think!)**

The cheerleaders were practicing a few new dance moves that had Grace a little on edge. She was a great dancer, graceful and elegant. Twelve years of ballet will do that to a girl, but the part of cheerleading with flips and flying through the air was new to her. Her old school had separate cheerleading and dance teams so she never had to learn the cheer side of performing. She loved it though, and she caught on quickly with most things, but all the turns and flips in the air had her nervous.

She wasn't tall by any means and she an average build, which made her a great candidate for the top of the pyramids and to be thrown in the air. She had worked with Claire and Rachel a lot when she first joined but she was able to fly under the radar and stay a dancer that did floor work such as cart wheels and round offs and a few flips.

But when Tina sprained her ankle, Grace had to step up. She was the next smallest girl and she had to train with the bases to do twists and flips now in the air. It wasn't that she was overly bad at it, but she was always perfect with dance and it annoyed her that this wasn't coming easily to her. She wasn't sure if it was because she didn't trust the bases or because she was scared, but either way, Grace needed to figure out how to do this.

They were practicing a move called the helicopter. They would hoist her up, she'd hold position on one foot, then they would throw her and she was to do a twist and they would catch her. It didn't take her long to figure out how to balance and hold the pose and she understood the twist, she just had to trust that they would catch her.

"Okay, Grace," Claire said. "They're going to give you a bit of height and you're going to twist onto your side for a full rotation before they catch you. Are you ready?"

Grace nodded and took a deep breath. She put her hands on their shoulders and they lifted her up. She balances and held the position perfectly, before she was thrown into the air. She tried to turn but she didn't quite get enough height and she came crashing to the mat with her bases. They tried again and again and again, and each time Grace just couldn't get the hang on it. She wasn't in sync with her bases. They would throw her too high or not high enough, throwing Grace off. And when they did throw her at the right height, Grace would mess up the turn.

"Alright, we'll try again tomorrow." Claire said after Grace crashed to the ground for the eleventh time.

Claire helped Grace up and they made their way to the locker room. "I'm never going to get the hang of this."

"Sure you will," Claire reassured. "You just need to get out of your head. Stop thinking and just let your body do it. You have a tendency to overthink things."

Grace smirked. "Yeah, I do, don't I?"

Claire nodded with a smile. "Just a little. So, what's up with you and Tyler?"

"He's in a mood," Grace rolled her eyes. "I asked him to come to dinner tomorrow night with my Uncle and he got all mad about it. Saying he had practice and was going out with the guys."

"They're all PMSing because Coach is running two a day practises to get ready for the tournament next weekend." She said. "Nick is being grumpy too."

"Well it caused a big fight at lunch and the stupid thing is, I texted him about it on Monday and he was fine with it. All I was doing was reminding him and he completely lost it on me."

"I say screw them," Claire said. "They don't have a game tomorrow so let's have a girls night and we'll just ignore them. Let's see how they like it."

"Like what?" Rachel asked.

"Claire wants to freeze out the guys tomorrow night since their being jerks lately." Grace explained.

"Girls night, movies, junk food, maybe some wine." Claire grinned. "No guy drama, you know, besides us trash talking them."

"Oh, I'm up for that." Rachel nodded. "They think we aren't working really hard for our competition."

"I have the bruises to prove it," Grace said showing off her shoulder and arm.

"Battle wounds." Claire laughed. "Except you should probably tape your wrist, I noticed you fell hard on it the last time. Ice it when you get home."

Grace nodded as she put on her jacket and grabbed her bag. She didn't bother changing out of her shorts and tank top. She figured Matt probably wouldn't like her walking around in spandex booty shorts so she decided to pull on a pair of yoga pants. She noticed her wrist was pretty sore but nothing rest and ice wouldn't fix.

She met Jake out front and Tyler offered to drop them off at the firehouse. He was still acting distant and upset and it was bothering Grace more than she wanted to admit. When they pulled up to the house, Jake jumped out and left them in the car to talk alone.

"So, I'll see you tomorrow?" Grace asked.

Tyler nodded, but made no attempt to kiss her goodbye. "Yeah," He said, barely looking at her.

"Are you okay?"

"Fine."

"Did I do something?"

He looked over at her then and frowned slightly. "No, why?"

Grace gave him a surprised looked and gestured around her. "You got mad at me at lunch, you didn't talk to me all afternoon, you're barely speaking to me now and you seem mad."

"Not everything is about you, Grace." He said coldly.

"I know that," She said quietly. "I just want to know if you're okay?"

"Well, I am." He said.

"Then why are you acting like this?"

"I'm not acting like anything." He snapped. "I'm tired and I have things to do, so sorry if things can't be all about Grace for once."

Grace frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"Nothing," He sighed. "I have to go."

Grace stared at him for another moment before she opened the door and got out of the car. She watched as he sped off in a hurry and she tried to swallow the lump that was forming in her throat. She walked into the house and made no eye contact with anyone. She passed some of Severide's crew sitting in the garage, she passed the kitchen and ignored the few calls of her name and she passed Boden's office, although he was busy on the phone. She went directly to Casey's office and was glad to see him sitting at his desk doing paperwork. She opened the door and he looked up as she stepped into the room.

"Hey, how was your day?" He asked, looking over his shoulder briefly as she dropped her bag to the floor. He was used to her coming into his office to do homework after school or to ask him for permission to do something or to tell him some wild story about her day.

"Matt," She said and something in her voice made him turn back around. "My day was horrible and I'm going to cry if you don't hug me right now, please."

"Whoa, Gracie," Casey said, jumping up and wrapping her in a hug as a few tears escaped. He held her for a few minutes and she did cry. Not a lot and not really hard, but enough for him to realize she was hurting. "Do you want to tell me what happened?" He asked as he tried to pull her back but Grace wouldn't let him.

"Dad called me this morning, I got a bad mark on my Math test, Tyler and I had a fight and I sucked at practice and got hurt." She mumbled into his chest as he rubbed her back. "Today totally sucked."

"Doesn't sound like the best day." Casey nodded. "I can probably help you with most of those problems though."

Grace let go and stepped back, she looked miserable. "Well I need it. My life is falling apart."

Casey gave her a sympathetic look and gestured for her to sit down. She did and he handed her some tissues before pulling his desk chair in front of the bed. "Your life isn't falling apart."

"Well it feels like it." She said as wiped her eyes.

"What did Seth want?"

"They have family passes or something and he wants to see us."

"Do you want to see him?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, maybe, but not without Jake and you there."

"Alright, well, that's something the three of us should discuss at home later." She nodded and Casey smiled. "See? First problem partially solved, what's next?"

"Math test." She mumbled.

"What did you get?" She hesitated and made a face. "Come on, out with it."

"I got a 60." She said. "And you have to sign it."

Casey sighed and held out his hand. "Give it to me." Grace dug through her bag and held out the test paper. There was a note from her teacher attached to it and she squirmed as he read it. "Grace, explain this note to me."

"I don't have an explanation for it." She mumbled, looking at the floor.

Casey reached out and lifted her chin to make eye contact with her. "I want an answer and I won't ask you again."

Grace felt her stomach turn and she sighed. "I didn't do all my homework because I was with Tyler those nights. I told you I finished it but I didn't."

"Well you're grounded for that," Casey said as he let go of her and grabbed a pen to sign the test. "One week for the grade and one week for lying to me."

"Two weeks!" Grace said in shock. "Uncle Matt, you can't be serious!"

"Look at me Grace," Casey said sternly. "I'm completely serious. You know better than to lie to me and you are a way better student than this."

She sighed, not wanting to argue with him. "Yeah, okay."

He nodded. "So, are you going to tell me what happened with you and Tyler?"

Casey watched as she became visibly upset again and he knew Tyler was the main reason she was upset. "I don't know what happened. He's distant and he got mad at me for reminding him about the diner, he ignored me all afternoon and he snapped at me on the drive over here. He's acting different and he won't tell him why. I don't know what to do."

Casey sighed. "Give him some time to cool off. Something else might be going on that you don't know about and he's just taking it out on you. It isn't right, but it's usually what happens. So let him come to you."

"What if he doesn't?" Grace asked, her voice small.

"Just give it a few days," Casey said. "I'm sure he'll come around."

"I hope so." She said with a sad smile.

"Okay, last problem." Casey said, eager to change the subject. "What happened at cheerleading?"

"Ugh," Grace groaned. "Tina sprained her ankle so I've been filling in for her, or trying to. She's like Claire and Rachel, she gets all the air stunts." Grace explained. "So we were working on a move where they throw you in the air and you do a turn and they catch you but I can't do it! I kept falling over and over again. I've never been this bad at dance before!"

"Not that I really know anything about dance," Casey said. "But I think Ballet and flipping through the air are really different. It's something new, Grace. It's going to take time to learn how to do it but you'll get the hang of it eventually."

"But I've always picked things up fast!" Grace argued. "Ballet and dance always came easily and even when I started cheering I picked up the tumble moves really fast."

Casey grinned. "Grace, just because you didn't figure it out on the first day, doesn't mean you won't figure it out. I think you're more upset that it's not coming easy to you and you have to work at it."

"Claire says I need to get out of my head."

"That might be true," Casey nodded. "It will be fine, just work at it."

She sighed. "So you don't have some magic secret that will make me awesome at this?"

"It's called practice, sweetheart." Casey smiled. "Now, where are you hurt?"

"Oh it's not a big deal." Grace said. "I've just been falling all week onto a mat so my wrist and arm is a little sore."

Casey frowned. "Let me see, take your jacket off."

"It's nothing, Uncle Matt." Grace reassured. "I'm fine, the trainer just said to ice it."

"Grace," Casey said in a warning tone. Grace sighed and slipped her jacket off to reveal her bruised shoulder and elbow and her slightly swollen wrist. Casey's frown deepened as he grabbed her arm and looked it over. "Tell me the truth, how much down this hurt?"

Grace shrugged. "My wrist is sore because I fell on it today, but my arm isn't really that sore. It just looks bad. I mean, it hurts when I fall on it but it's really not that bad, just feels kind of stiff."

"I want someone to look at this." Casey said.

"I'm really fine."

"This is not a discussion, Grace." Casey said. "It's your health and someone will be looking at it."

Grace sighed. "Fine, but no hospitals. Dawson or Shay can look at it."

Casey nodded and stood up to open the door. Grace followed him out to the garage and over to the ambulance. Dawson and Shay were counting their supplies and they looked up when Grace and Casey approached.

"Can we help you?" Shay asked. "Do you need some condoms Grace?" She said as she held up a strand of them.

Grace laughed and then laughed harder when she saw the look on her uncle's face. "That is not funny, Shay."

"Oh it was," She laughed. "And so worth the look you're giving me."

"Don't mind her," Dawson said. "The hormone shots make her a little crazy."

Casey just shook his head as he let a smile slip out. "Can one of you do your job and look at her wrist, she fell during practice."

"Let's see it." Dawson said and Grace held out her arm. Dawson looked it over, getting Grace to bend it and asking her a few questions. "I think it's sprained but not badly. Ice it and wrap it at practice, you'll be fine."

"Told you." Grace said to her uncle.

"Watch it." Casey warned. "You sure she's fine?"

Dawson nodded. "Yes."

Casey sighed and nodded. "Alright, I'm going to get my stuff and Jake and we'll go home."

Grace nodded. "Okay, I'll wait here." Grace watched him disappear through the doors before turning back to Dawson and Shay and giving them a look. "So, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Shay studied her for a moment. "You want the condoms, don't you?"

Grace smirked. "No, well maybe."

"Uh-oh." Shay said as she looked to Dawson and stopped what she was doing. "What do you want to know?"

"How do I know if I'm ready?" She said quietly. "I think Tyler really wants to, and I think I want to too."

"Have you two talked about it?" Dawson asked.

"Yeah a few times." She confessed. "He's not pressuring me or anything but he wants to. And I've said no before."

"Okay, first," Shay said. "You can say no however many times you want."

"Secondly," Dawson interrupted. "There's a big difference between wanting to do it and feeling like you have to do it. If you have any doubt at all, you are not ready."

Shay nodded. "I agree. It's an act of love, Grace. You want your first time to be with someone that you love. Don't do it because it's what he wants or because your friends are doing it, do it because you want to."

"And if you do decide to do it, you need to be prepared and safe." Dawson added. "So maybe you should think about it and if you decide you want to, I'll take you to the doctor to get birth control."

"And I'll teach you how to put a condom on a cucumber." Shay said.

Grace laughed and nodded when she noticed Casey and Jake coming through the door. "Okay, thanks you guys."

Grace ran over to meet her uncle and brother and walked with them to the truck. Before she climbed in she quickly sent Tyler a text message that said, "Can we talk?"


	17. Chapter 17

"Hey Casey," Dawson called from down the hall. "Are we still doing dinner tonight?"

Casey shrugged as she got closer. "I'm not sure. There's trouble in teenage paradise."

"What?" Dawson frowned.

"Grace said Tyler had been avoiding her so I'm not sure what's going on." Casey watched the growing confusion on Dawson's face. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing," Dawson shook her head. "Grace just never mentioned it yesterday when she was talking to me."

"I'm surprised she even told me." Casey was interrupted by his cell phone ringing. He signaled for Dawson to give him a minute as he answered the phone. "Hello?"

Dawson watched as Casey became confused and worried. "More Voight problems?"

Casey shook his head. "No, that was the school. Grace passed out."

"Is she okay?" Dawson asked, immediately becoming worried.

"Yeah, I think so." He said. "They said she passed out during cheer practise at lunch and that her blood pressure was low."

"She probably didn't each lunch," Dawson said. "Do you want me to come with you?"

"No, it's okay, but can you look at her when I bring her back here?"

"Yeah, of course."

Casey nodded and walked to the Chief's office to let him know where he was going. He was worried as he drove to the school. Even though they said she was okay, Casey couldn't shake the nerves as he walked into the building. He wondered why he niece had passed out and if it was something more than just a one-time thing.

Casey stepped into the office and could see Grace sitting in the nurse's office. "Mr. Casey?"

"Yes?" He turned to see the nurse. "Is she okay?"

"She'll be fine." She nodded. "Did Grace eat breakfast this morning?"

"I dropped her off with a bagel, I don't know if she ate it."

The nurse pressed her lips into a line. "I'm willing to bet she didn't. She isn't the first cheerleader this week to pass out. They have a big competition coming up next weekend and they're under pressure to look their best."

Casey sighed. "She's been eating at home."

"Teenage girls are really hard. The guidance counsellor and I are going to be talking to the team on Monday but you should probably talk to her too. Like I said, we've had a few fainters, but we've also had a few girls have some side effects from diet pills."

Casey only nodded at her before following her into the nurse's office. Grace was pale and she smiled weakly when she saw him. She was drinking a juice box and had a half-eaten granola bar in her hand. Casey wasn't happy with her, but his worry trumped his anger.

Grace followed him out to the truck in silence. She wanted to saw something but she didn't know what he had been told or what kind of mood he was in. She climbed into the truck and waited for him to start the conversation. They drove back to the firehouse in silence and Grace glanced over at him a few times trying to read him. When he parked the truck, Grace watched him struggle to figure out what to say. He sat in the driver's seat, keys in hand and was still for a few moments. He didn't make an attempt to get out and neither did she.

"Grace," He said slowly. "Did you eat the bagel I gave you this morning?"

"No."

"Did you eat lunch today?"

"No."

"If I go through your bag right now will I find diet pills?" She was quiet and he sighed. "Give them to me."

She reached down and pulled the pack out of the side pocket of her school bag and handed them to him. "I didn't take any."

"Were you going to?" Casey said, finally making eye contact with her.

"I don't know," She said honestly. "Maybe."

"Why Grace?" He asked. "That's all I want to know. You are a beautiful girl."

"Everyone else was doing it, and I know that's stupid, but I fit in here. People didn't like me in LA but they like me here and I'm a part of something. I don't want be left out again."

Casey pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Do you have any idea how dangerous this all is?"

"I know but all the other girls are trying to lose weight and I thought maybe if I lost some, Tyler would stop ignoring me." Grace half mumbled the second part but Casey had no trouble hearing her.

"You don't need to change who you are for some guy or for anyone or anything." He said firmly. "If you are truly unhappy with how you look and you want to lose weight, you do it the proper and healthy way. You don't take pills and you don't starve yourself."

"You don't understand, Uncle Matt."

"No, Grace, you don't seem to understand how serious this is." Casey snapped. "Do I have watch you eat each meal to make sure you are in fact eating it?"

"No."

"Are you sure? Because apparently I can't trust you to take care of yourself."

"Well maybe I would have had time to make myself a healthy breakfast if you weren't in such a hurry to drop us off so you could eat with Hallie." Grace said.

Casey took a breath to calm himself down before turning back to her. "This isn't about Hallie. This is about you and how this habit you're getting into can very quickly spiral out of control. I love you Gracie and I'm worried about you. I just want to know what happened."

Grace looked at him for a moment. "The senior girls' team told us on Monday that we had to practice at lunch too. Some girls asked when we were going to eat lunch and they said we should skip it because we all had to look our best for the competition. They gave us all some diet pills but I never took them and this morning was the only morning I didn't eat breakfast or a snack before practice. I wanted to lose some weight but I never meant to pass out."

Casey nodded. "Okay, well then can you come inside and eat something?"

"Yeah, I'm starving." She grinned at him.

He returned the smile and pulled her into a one armed hug to kiss her head. "Don't do this to me again."

Casey pulled into the school parking lot for the second time that day to pick up Jake from practise. He had to sign a permission form for Jake to be in the tournament next weekend and as he crossed the parking lot he heard someone call his name.

"Lt. Casey?" Casey turned to see a teenager in a basketball uniform approach him. "I'm Tyler, Tyler James, Grace's boyfriend."

Casey was taken aback and he frowned. He quickly recovered and shook his hand. "It's nice to finally meet you."

"You too." Tyler nodded and then hesitated.

"Can I help you with something?"

"I don't know what Grace has told you." Tyler looked at him and paused again. "My Dad is on your case."

Casey sighed. "What do you know?"

"Everything." Tyler said. "I've been helping my Dad out at his office since I was thirteen. I do his filing and other office jobs. I see things and I hear things. I know Voight is out and I know the guy that got him put into jail is dead and I know your case is reopened."

Casey continued to study him. "Do not mention any of this to Grace or Jake."

"That's the problem." Tyler said. "I can't say anything. I shouldn't even be here talking to you right now but every time I'm with Grace I feel guilty for not telling her."

"So you decide to ignore her and make her feel like she has done something wrong instead." Casey snapped. "I'm not too fond of seeing my niece cry."

"I know and I'm sorry but it's the only way to keep from telling her." Tyler explained. "I just thought that maybe if you were to talk to her,"

"Do you want to be a police officer Tyler? A detective like your Dad?" Casey interrupted. "Because if you do, you're going to have to keep secrets your whole life from your friends and family. If you can't do that, maybe you shouldn't be helping your Dad at his office."

"I can keep private information." Tyler argued. "But this is dangerous information. This is something that could hurt her. Voight could go after her to get to you. Shouldn't she at least know what is going on?"

"That isn't your call." Casey said. "Look, I know you care about her but if you want to protect her, keep her safe, don't tell her about this."

"She needs to know." Tyler pressed. "She can handle it, I know she can."

"You don't know her!" Casey said harshly. "You've dated her for a few months. You don't know anything about her, what she's been through or how she deals with things."

"Yes I do! She's told me things."

"She tells you what she wants you to know. But believe me, you don't know anything. She is my niece, she is my responsibility and this is my call. I don't want her to know, so you better figure out how to keep this secret."

"You need to tell her about this. It's the right thing to do."

"The right thing for who? You or her?" Casey said more calmly. "Look, I appreciate you coming to talk to me but this is none of your business."

Grace sat in the locker room and waited for Severide as he grabbed some things from his locker. She had heard everything that had gone on and she could see it upset him. She couldn't believe the story when she heard it. She knew Kelly, he dated a lot of girls, but he didn't have to force them to do anything.

"I think it's unfair," Grace said suddenly.

"What is?" Severide asked, sounding tired.

"I heard what's happening." She said slowly. "I know what it's like to have the justice system fail you."

Severide turned and stared at her. Sometimes he forgot how much she has been through or how young she was because she could really sound wise beyond her years sometimes. "Sucks doesn't it?"

Grace nodded. "Yeah, but Matt saved us, so maybe it will get worked out for you too."

"I hope so," He said. "But this isn't for you to worry about, Grace. It's not your problem."

"Yes it is." She insisted. "You're my family, Kelly. You've always been there for me so I'm going to be there for you."

Severide smiled and leaned down to kiss her forehead. "Thanks kiddo."

"Can I ask you a question?" She said and he nodded as he continued to pack his bag. "So hypothetically speaking, if a guy turns down sex from his girlfriend does that mean he doesn't find her attractive?"

Severide was reaching for his jacket and stopped abruptly when he heard her say 'sex'. He turned to look at her and was still shocked. "Excuse me?"

She sighed. "Oh, never mind."

"Oh no," Severide said. "Are you and Tyler?"

"No," She said awkwardly. "He's been distant and kind of avoiding me lately and I don't know what's wrong."

"So you offered to have sex with him?" Severide frowned. "Do you want to?"

Grace shrugged, becoming embarrassed. "Well, maybe. I just wanted to talk about it but he completely shut me down. He said it wasn't the right time."

"Maybe he isn't ready, Grace."

"He's asked me before and –"

"I'm going to kill him."

Grace rolled her eyes. "I just don't get it. He wanted to but I said I wasn't ready and he said he'd wait until I was. Now, I think I might have waited too long and he lost interest or he doesn't find me attractive anymore."

"Hold on," Severide said. "Does this have anything to do with what happened with you at school today?"

Grace shrugged. "Well, kind of. After our conversation last night I just felt like he maybe if I lost some weight he'd think I was sexy or something."

Severide ran a hand over his face and sighed. He sat down on the bench beside her and made sure to make eye contact with her. "Grace, you don't need to lose weight. I can't believe I'm about to say this to you but, guys don't like super thin girls. We like a girl that is healthy and most importantly, confident. Confidence is sexy. If a girl owns her body and loves who she is, that's very attractive."

"But it's hard to be confident when he's being so distant."

"Tyler being distant has nothing to do with your looks, trust me if he wasn't into you, he'd already be gone. So don't use sex as a way to keep a guy around. You're a beautiful girl, Grace. Don't let anyone make you feel or think less of yourself."

Grace nodded. "Thanks Kelly."

"Do you have any other questions or can we end this awkward sex talk?" He grinned.

She laughed. "I'm done."

"Good," He nodded. "Come on, I'll drop you off."

Severide dropped Grace off at the house and she noticed Casey's truck wasn't in the driveway. She walked into the house to find Jake in the kitchen attempting to make food. She made a face at whatever invention he had going and sat down at the table with a sigh.

"So we aren't having dinner?" Jake said.

"Well, Tyler and I aren't really talking,"

"And Matt is getting friendly with Hallie."

"Uhm, ew," Grace said. "Where is he?"

"He went to take a box of her stuff over to her place." Jake said. "Meeting her for breakfast, hanging out after work, going to coffee, it's pretty obvious what's happening with them."

Grace sighed. "Can things ever go right for us?"

Jake shrugged. "What's wrong with Matt being with Hallie?"

"She hasn't changed! She's the same person who broke his heart and she's reeling him back in."

Jake rolled his eyes. "He can't wait around for Dawson forever."

"I know that and I want him to be happy."

"Hallie makes him happy, Grace." Jake said as he sat down at the table with her. "You know she does and you used to love her."

"I don't want to see him get hurt." Grace said. "And I think she's going to hurt him again."

Jake nodded. "I know but you're going to have to let him make his own mistakes. Besides, maybe she has changed. Shouldn't you give her a chance to show it?"

Grace didn't get a chance to answer as Casey walked in the door with Hallie. They could hear her saying she loved what he did with the place before they both appeared in the kitchen. Despite their small talk, Grace noticed the seriousness and worry on their faces.

"I need to talk to you," Casey said slowly. "It's about Voight."

**A/N: I didn't mean to make you wait so long but I wanted to see the episode before I wrote the next chapter. I hope to post another chapter in a few days to make up for you waiting so long for the last few ones. The next chapter has the Voight talk but will also have the cheerleading competition and the basketball tournament. I'm thinking of making Casey a chaperone…let me know what you think or if you have any ideas what shenanigans the twins could get into while in a hotel with their teammates! **


	18. Chapter 18

Casey watched the twins as he explained the situation with Voight. He told them everything, from Curtis dying to Voight being released to him apologizing at the bar earlier. Hallie stood silently by his side but didn't say anything. She had been through all this with him, watched him change because of it and she was just as worried.

"Do you believe him?" Jake asked. "Do you think he's going to back off?"

Casey hesitated as he glanced at Hallie. "I don't know, but I don't trust him. I can only hope he keeps his word."

"What do we do now?" Jake looked at Grace, who hadn't said a word yet.

"We aren't going to do anything." Casey said. "I said I'd be honest with you but there isn't anything to do."

"Aren't you scared?" Grace looked up at him. "What if this is just some plan to get you to let your guard down? He tried to kill you."

Casey kneeled in front of her. "I'm not going to stop living my life because of him and I won't let him make my family live in fear. I said I'd be honest with you guys, so I'm telling you what's going on. But I don't want you to worry."

"How can we not?" Grace asked and her reaction and the look in her eyes is why Casey never wanted them to know.

"I know it's hard. But you can't get caught up in it." He explained. "Trust me, it doesn't help and it doesn't solve anything. Let's just keep moving on with our lives and if something comes up where we are put in danger, we will deal with it then. For now, I need you to trust me that everything will be okay."

Grace nodded but she exchanged a look with Hallie when Casey turned to Jake. Hallie ended up staying the night and Grace had mixed feelings about it. Even Jake seemed to be worried, but not about Hallie. Grace liked Hallie, she really did, but she didn't want her uncle to get hurt again. Even if she desperately wanted a motherly figure in her life. Dawson and Christie sometimes filled parts of that role, but it was never really complete. She needed a female presence in her life all the time. Maybe Hallie was the answer, but Grace wasn't quite ready to fully trust her just yet.

A week went by and Hallie and Casey were getting closer and spending more and more time together. Jake didn't mind her being around and Grace was getting used to it. She had forgotten how much fun and easy Hallie was to talk to. But despite Casey's happiness, both Jake and Grace didn't like that he seemed to be spending more time with Hallie and less time with them.

Grace and Tyler made up and Rachel and Jake were going strong. Both the basketball team and the cheerleading squad were getting ready for the weekend. The basketball team had a tournament and the cheerleaders had a competition. Both events were in the same place so that the cheerleaders could continue to cheer for their school teams. It was shaping up to be a good and fun weekend, until two chaperones cancelled. Even though the events were in Chicago, the school still decided to put the teams up in hotel rooms to create unity and to keep the teams focused. But without two more chaperones the school board wasn't going to let it happen.

The coaches had let it slip that having professionals, firefighters or paramedics, would really impress the school board. Jake and Grace knew they were being signaled out but they understood. They were new, their 'parents' probably should take a turn chaperoning, but convincing members of the firehouse to watch a bunch of teenagers on their days off wasn't going to be easy.

"How was school?" Casey asked when the twins walked into the kitchen of the firehouse later that afternoon.

"Good." Jake said as he glanced at Grace.

Casey watched the exchange. "What?"

"Well," Grace said, drawing the word out. "The school lost two chaperones for the weekend and if we don't get replacements we can't stay in the hotels like the other teams."

"And the coaches sort of made it clear that the newbies should offer up their parents," Jake said. "But since we don't really have parents right now, you guys are next in line."

"They also really want to impress the school board and they think that a firefighter," Grace said as she looked at Casey, before turning to Dawson. "And a paramedic, would be ideal chaperones."

"And we kind of already said you'd do it." Jake mumbled.

Dawson turned to Casey and tried to hold back her grin. "Looks like we're playing babysitters for the weekend."

Casey smirked and shook his head. "Fine, but next time, at least ask Dawson before you volunteer her. You two aren't her responsibility."

"Deal," Jake nodded. "Can you come help me with my free throws?"

Casey nodded. "Sure, bud."

Grace watched them exit the room before sitting down on the couch next to Dawson. "So, how are you and Tyler?"

Grace shrugged. "Better. We started talking again on Monday. Matt told me he knew about Voight and that's why he was avoiding me, because he couldn't say anything. I get it, but I'm still upset that he didn't try to at least explain it to me somehow."

Dawson nodded. "It's a difficult situation to be put it."

"I know and he's being really nice and more like himself." Grace said.

"And what about the whole birth control thing?" She asked slowly.

Grace shrugged. "I don't know."

"Alright, well let me know." She said. "But if you ask me, Grace you aren't ready and that's okay."

Grace smiled a bit. "Thanks Dawson."

"See," Jake said as he missed the shot. "I'm a shooting guard. I'm supposed to hit these no problem."

"Free throws are a lot different, Jake." Casey said as he passed the ball back. "Don't jump, keep your feet planted, put your right foot slightly ahead of your left and square yourself to the basket. Line up your elbow, take a breath and take the shot."

Jake took the shot and this time it went in. It wasn't perfect, but it was a step in the right direction. "There you go," Casey grinned. "The best thing about free throws is that you can take your time. So take the extra time. Block everyone else out and just focus."

Jake nodded and took another shot. It went in but he hesitated when Casey threw the ball back to him. "Uncle Matt do you get upset when people leave truck for squad?"

Casey frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Does it offend you?" Jake asked as he took another shot . "I mean, you train them and they start with you."

"That's just the way it goes," Casey explained, throwing the ball back to his nephew. "Most of the time I know from the start that certain guys will be leaving for squad."

"So it doesn't annoy you to always lose them?" Jake said as he spun the ball around from hand to hand.

"I don't always lose my guys." Casey paused. "Jake, if you decide to become a firefighter you can chose whatever path you want. You don't have to be a firefighter because I am and you don't have to be on truck because I am."

"But I want to." Jake insisted. "You've basically been my hero since I was five and being a firefighter like my uncle is all I've ever wanted to do. I don't want to do anything else."

Casey smiled. "I won't be upset if you one day chose squad."

"I don't think I want to, though." He said slowly.

"Ah," Casey nodded. "You're afraid Severide will be upset with you."

"He's always helping me work out and practise for basketball and he always talks about how great I'd be on squad and how funny it would be since you're on truck."

"Don't worry about him. He'll be just fine." Casey reassured. "Now, back to work. Square up, you don't have your elbow in line. Games are won and lost on free throws, Jake."

Dawson arrived at Casey's pretty early Saturday morning. Casey made the twins pack their bags the night before so there would be no rushing around the next morning. They were just finishing breakfast when Dawson walked in.

"So one little thing that they didn't tell us," Casey said as he eyed the twins.

"Uh oh," Dawson said. "What now?"

"The chaperones that backed out were a married couple." Casey explained. "Which means we have to share a room. The hotel is booked solid so we can't switch."

Dawson nodded. "Well, it's not the end of the world."

"I won't tell Peter if you don't tell Hallie." He offered.

She laughed. "I'll take that deal. That's a conversation I don't want to have."

"I agree." He nodded. "Alright, let's go."

They arrived at the hotel and checked in without any problems. They split up as Dawson went with Grace to a cheer meeting and light practice and Casey went with Jake to the basketball court. Grace's competition was from eleven to one. Jake had games at nine, three and five. The outcome of today would determine the schedules for tomorrow.

Shay and Severide showed up to watch the Jake's basketball game with Casey and Dawson. The team they were up against was a pretty even match up. They seemed to be going back and forth with neither being up by more than four points at a time. Jake went to the free throw line a few times and Casey watched him apply what they went through yesterday as he got every shot in. It was close, but they were able to pull up a win by two points.

After the game, Jake's team went right into a team meeting. They were going to spend the break they had eating, going over plays and running a few drills. The chaperones weren't needed so Casey hung out with Dawson, Shay and Severide as they waited for Grace's competition. The cheerleaders were warming up with Grace's squad to perform at noon.

Dawson saw "Hallie" flash on Casey's phone right before they were about to head back into the gym. "I've got to take this."

Dawson nodded and followed Severide and Shay to get seats. After waiting about ten minutes Dawson got a text was Casey that read, "Hallie is bringing lunch by, save me a seat."

She sighed and replied, "Don't be long. Grace goes on in an hour."

He didn't respond and as the time dragged on Dawson got more and more worried. She sent a few more texts asking him where he was and how long he was going to be but he still didn't answer. She had a pretty good idea where he was and what he was doing and it made her angry. Severide wasn't happy with him either. Especially when Grace's team came out and Casey still hadn't shown up.

They watched as the team performed. None of them knew much about dance or cheerleading but it was a pretty amazing thing to watch. With girls flipping through the air, back flipping on the mats and cartwheeling all over the place, the whole thing really was great entertainment.

They slipped out of the room during the break to meet up with Grace. She came running over and Severide caught her as she jumped into his arms. They were happy for her and proud of her but they were regretting the conversation that was about to happen.

"Woah," Severide laughed as he put her down. "You're like a little spring board."

"Yeah you were awesome." Shay said. "I didn't know you could flip like that."

"Thanks, I used to be in gymnastics and ballet, so it pays off." She smiled as she looked around. "Where's Matt?"

They all looked at each other and were silent. Dawson sighed and looked to Grace. "He got a call from Hallie."

"You've got to be kidding me." Grace said.

"Something must have came up," Dawson explained. "He got the call an hour ago, he didn't mean to miss you compete."

"He didn't miss Jake." She said. "And of course he couldn't miss having lunch with her."

Grace turned to leave and saw Casey and Hallie coming towards her. They were holding hands and laughing but it only took Casey a minute to realize he was late when he saw all their faces. Grace was trying really hard to look angry but she was upset. The rest of them were angry and they looked like it.

"Wait, Grace." Casey called as she turned and took off.

He followed her out of the lobby but she took an elevator. He grabbed the next one with Hallie and the rest of them. There were a million things Severide wanted to say to Casey but he remained silent for the time being. The doors opened and Casey caught up with Grace outside her room. She let swiped her card and Casey caught the door just in time, letting himself and everyone else into the room.

"Will you just talk to me?" Casey called after her. "Grace, I'm sorry I missed it."

"You missed it because you were with her." Grace said as she pointed at Hallie and emphasized the word 'her' as her voice cracked. "Ever since she got back you've been having breakfast and sleep overs with her. You're barely home and when you are it's like you're not even there or she's with you."

"Look Grace, Hallie and I have been together for a long time," He explained. "You didn't even know we weren't together when you came to move in. You love Hallie."

"It's not about her or how much I like her!" Grace yelled through the tears. "This is about you and how we needed you. I needed my Uncle and you weren't there."

"Grace, I'm right here."

"No," she shook her head. "No you aren't. Not like you're used to be. You drop this bomb of Voight on us and then you have sleepover parties with Hallie. Jake and I were up the entire night and we needed you but you were with her."

"Grace, I didn't know."

"Exactly!" She yelled again. "You didn't know because you aren't paying attention to us. You missed my competition so you could be with her. You said Jake and I come first."

"You do." Casey insisted.

"No we don't. Not anymore." Grace said as she broke down. "If we did, you would have been there. You would have skipped lunch with Hallie or at least invited her. You said you wanted us to be a family but it's like you don't want Jake and I to be a part of it anymore."

"That's not true."

"Well that's what it feels like." She said. "It feels like you don't want us around anymore. So maybe we should just go back to LA because at least when my parents didn't show up for things, I didn't get disappointed or hurt because I learned to never count on them or expect anything from them."

Grace walked away from them all and left the room. Dawson followed her, pulling her into her room just as Grace started to really brake down. Dawson sat with her on the bed and hugged her. She let her cry, she knew how hurt she was and it was really hard for Dawson to see her so upset. She didn't know what to do or how to make it better so she just held her.

"You're an idiot." Severide said to Casey. "How could you do that?"

"It's my fault." Hallie said. "I should have never called. I knew she had a competition and that you'd be busy."

"No, Hallie," Shay said. "This isn't your fault. Casey knew when Grace's competition was, he should have been here."

"Yeah I know," Casey said. "I messed up."

"Big time." Severide said. "If anyone else would have hurt her like that you'd be losing it."

"I know." Casey said again. "I'm going to fix it."

Casey left the room and went down the hall to the room he was sharing with Dawson. He let himself in and walked into the room to find Dawson sitting on the bed with Grace. They looked up at him but Grace quickly looked away.

"Dawson can you give us a minute?" Casey asked.

Dawson looked at Grace and then back to Casey. "Maybe you should leave for a bit."

"I'm not going anywhere." Casey said. "I need to talk to my niece. I hurt her and that's something that I never wanted to do."

"I don't think she really wants to talk, Casey."

"That's okay, she can listen."

Dawson nodded. "I'll be outside."

Casey turned the desk chair around and sat down at the end of the bed. "Grace, I'm so sorry. I lost track of time, that's no excuse, but you have to know that I didn't do this on purpose and I didn't chose Hallie over you. I didn't know you felt this way, I'm sorry that I made you feel like I didn't care or I didn't want to be a family anymore. I do, you should know that after all we've been through and everything I've done to keep you two here. Hallie and I have a long history, I was going to marry her, but as much as I love her, I love you and Jake more and your well-being will always come first."

"I had this gymnastics competition when I was twelve." Grace said. "My Dad just came back around two weeks before, making all kinds of promises like he usually did. I asked him to come and he said he wouldn't miss it for the world. I saved him a seat but he never showed. He never came to a single one of my dance shows or anything I was in. But he made it to every baseball, basketball and football game Jake ever had. Without a doubt he'd always show up."

"Grace," Casey tried to interrupt.

"I stopped inviting them to my things after that day." She continued. "He always promised he'd come and never showed. And mom, well if she did show up, she was usually drunk or high and made a scene. So I never invited them back to anything after that. All the other girls got to celebrate with their families and I got to take the bus home alone." She looked at him then. "You made all those feelings come back when you didn't show up today. The stupid part was that I actually was excited for you to see me. I finally had an adult in my life that cared and would be proud, but you weren't there."

"God, Grace, I'm sorry." Casey said as he moved to sit on the bed beside her. "I'm so, so sorry. But I'm not your Dad, he would have never come after you like this or apologized. I promise I never meant to hurt you and I am very proud of you. This was a mistake, a one-time mistake, that will never happen again."

"Are you going to stop seeing her?"

Casey sighed. "I love her Grace and she makes me really happy. But I don't want to jeopardize our relationship, so yeah, I'll stop seeing her."

Grace looked at him for a few moments. "Really?"

He nodded. "I meant it when I said you and Jake come first."

Grace lunged into his arms. He was surprised but he recovered quickly and wrapped his arms tightly around her. "He never put us first. I begged him to stop drinking and using and he wouldn't give it up. We weren't good enough for him to stay clean for." She mumbled into his chest.

Casey frowned and rubbed her back. He knew he messed up but he didn't realize Grace was comparing him and his actions to her Dad. In a way she was testing him, he had hurt her, but he apologized, he tried to make things right and he realized he was wrong. Those were things her Dad never did and he had done a lot worse than miss one competition.

"It's not fair for me to ask you to stop seeing her. I don't want you to resent me." Grace said as she pulled out of his embrace. "I'm getting used to Hallie being around but I'm not ready for her to be around all the time."

"I won't resent you, Grace." Casey said. "I didn't know you felt this way but now that I do, I'll slow things down with Hallie."

Grace nodded. "Okay, that's fair."

"Alright, let's go watch Jake play and get you ready for your next competition."

"Rachel texted me and we qualified for the next round." Grace said. "It's at ten tomorrow, which is the same time as Jake's quarter final game."

Casey smirked. "Of course it is."

**A/N: I had to rethink this chapter and the next one after the last episode. I'm not really sure what I'm going to do about the whole Hallie thing so suggestions on what you guys would like to see would be appreciated! The next chapter will still be about the tournament and some interesting celebrations that will be going on after. It will be a fun chapter since this one was a little heavy!**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Okay, I just wanted to address a few things that came up in the reviews. The problem was that I had already written the last chapter and I had this chapter in mind before I saw the episode from Wednesday. Hallie's death threw me off a bit and I had to rethink what I was going to do. But I really like these chapters, so I wanted you to read them and then I'll get back to the show. **

**First, I'm well aware of how firefighters' shifts work because my Dad is a firefighter… surprise, haha. I know they're on 24 hour shifts but I don't really want to get caught up in the logistics of it all. Sorry, if it is confusing some people or bothering anyone but I don't find it super important to constantly address it if you know what I mean, so just go with it. Plus, firefighters actually only work 11 days out of the month, at least that's how it is for the ones I know, which means Casey is technically home with the twins a lot so he is able to do things like chaperone. **

**Secondly, yes, Grace is a tad dramatic, needy and attention seeking but that is a part of her character. What I want to remind people is not only is Grace a teenage girl, but she went through a hard childhood so harboured feelings and trust issues from her relationships with her parents are going to spill over to her relationship with Matt. The same goes for Jake, and you'll see that in the next few chapters. I like to make those connections, I'm a realistic writer so I don't like to just have happy endings and move on. I want my characters to struggle because I believe that's what makes readers so interested in them. If you're getting annoyed with Grace, that's okay, it's just all part of her character. **

**Thirdly, I like to keep somewhat in step with the show. So that being said, Hallie is going to die in my story and I'll work the twins into how Casey is reacting on the show. I'm most likely going to have Severide step up and help with the twins as Casey works his way through this. If you were getting annoyed with Grace's dramatics, you'll fall back in love with her in the next few chapters, I promise.**

**I know it seems like there is going to be a lot going on and a lot of drama, but come on, you guys love the drama! **

Grace and Rachel were getting ready later that night in their room. The cheerleaders had moved on and so did the basketball team so they all decided they wanted to celebrate. They all had dinner together but the coaches imposed a strict curfew and made them go back to their rooms for eight. They had to fake getting ready for bed for when the chaperones came around to check on them, but as soon as they left, they quickly got dressed and started on their hair and make-up.

The cheerleaders were meeting the guys outside at eight thirty so they all had to sneak out quickly and quietly to avoid being caught. The guys wanted whatever they had planned to be a surprise for the girls, but considering the text message read "bring bikinis", the girl figured it had something to do with the pool. They were up for anything because half the fun of school trips is breaking the rules and sneaking out.

Grace and Rachel left their room and hurried down the hall to the stairwell. They made their way down to the bottom floor and took the exit to the outside of the building. They couldn't risk going through the lobby. They were waved over by some of the other girls who were standing a few feet away down the building by another door.

"What's going on?" Rachel asked when she saw Claire.

"This is the door to the pool." Claire grins. "The boys lifted a card off the maid's cart and went around to let us in. We're going to have ourselves a little pool and hot tub party."

"That, I could definitely go for." Grace nodded as the door opened and Nick appeared.

"Ladies," He said as he held the door open for them. The girls walked in to find the rest of the basketball team already in their suits. It wasn't just some little pool, it was an Olympic size pool complete with diving boards and water slides. "So, no alcohol this time because we want to win tomorrow. The pool is actually on its on wing and far away from any rooms or the front desk, but we don't want to get caught, so no screaming, girls." Nick said as he flashed his famous charming smile at the girls.

"How about you get changed because we've got a few games in mind." Jake said as he waved Rachel over. The girls quickly pulled off their clothes or bathing suit cover ups as the guys explained their plans for the night.

"Everyone pair up because we're going to have some chicken fights." Tyler said.

Grace was especially happy that she was back with Tyler at that moment. He was one of the tallest guys on the team so she'd have an advantage. Grace didn't like to lose, so even a game of chicken became competitive. She wasn't the only one either. Despite all the laughing that was going on during the fights, things were getting pretty crazy.

Rachel and Grace went up against each other after a few rounds. Tyler and Jake lifted them onto their shoulders and they started to try to push each other. They were pretty evenly matched and too good of friends to actually want to hurt the other one. It ended with the boys deciding to throw them off their shoulders. They thought it was hilarious but the girls were less than pleased.

Rachel couldn't help but shake her head as she came up. "So much for doing our hair and makeup!"

"I know!" Grace called as she jumped out of the pool and went running after Tyler. She caught up to him at the deep end and instead of trying to push him in, she basically jumped on him and sent them both in. He came up and grabbed her, pulling her close to him as she laughed.

"Oh, you think you're funny?" He asked.

"Yes, yes I do." She nodded. "I think I'm hilarious."

He laughed. "I agree, I did not think that's what you were going to do."

"I'm just full of surprises." She grinned.

"It's why I love you." As soon as he said it, he stopped and so did she. He didn't even realize he was about to say it and it's not how he wanted to tell her that for the first time. "I mean, I uh, I meant,"

Tyler stumbled over his words as Grace continued to stare at him in shock. After a minute or so she came out of it and shook her head. "Did you mean that?"

"Well, yeah," He admitted. "But I didn't mean to say it like that or in front of everyone." Grace looked around, but no one was paying attention to them. "I understand if you don't feel the same way."

"No, Tyler," She said. "I do feel the same way. It's just, no one has ever told me that before."

Tyler smiled and nodded. "Well, now someone has."

Grace debated saying it back. It wasn't the perfect timing but it was kind of romantic that she was in his arms in the pool, even if her hair was wet and her makeup was smeared all over her face. She did love him, as much as someone could love another person at fifteen. She opened her mouth to say it back, but she was interrupted by the Nick calling everyone over.

Tyler helped her out, even though she was capable of getting out on her own. She liked that about him, he always held doors for her and pulled out her chair. She really appreciated the little things he did that made her feel so special.

"So me and the boys were talking," Nick explained. "And we thought your routine with the flips was pretty cool but we think we've got you beat."

"Oh you do?" Claire asked as she crossed her arms.

Nick nodded. "We're pretty confident about it. We think a diving, flipping, trick jump competition off the boards is in order."

"You're on." Claire said determined.

"Wait," Nick held up a hand. "I think a little wager is in order too."

"What do you have in mind?" Rachel asked.

"We go boy against girl and whoever does the better trick, gets to dare the other team to do something."

The girls looked to Claire; she always called the shots for the group. "Nothing dangerous or illegal, and no nudity and we're in."

"You drive a hard bargain, babe." Nick sighed. "Deal. We'll keep score and do the dares at the end. By the way, height counts. At least one member of your team has to go off of each level."

The competition started and the boys quickly realized they were in over their heads. Some of the guys could flip and were pretty good, but most of them were lucky if they could flip once. The girls had practice, so they cartwheeled off the diving boards and completed multiple flips in the air. The only reason the guys won any rounds was because some could back flip and they weren't afraid to go off the highest tower. But in the end, the girls won eight out of the twelve rounds.

The teams separated to opposite sides of the pool to come up with their dares. The girls decided to be ruthless since they figured the guys were going to go hard on them considering they only won four out of the twelve dares.

"Alright," Jake called. "Ladies first, what do you have?"

Claire grinned before she looked to Nick. "Walk up to the front desk in your boxers and ask for a bottle of chocolate sauce."

He grinned and nodded his head. "Not bad. I'll go."

"Two of us get to come for proof." Rachel said. "This was Claire's idea so we're going."

The three of them were only gone for about five minutes before Claire and Rachel came running back into the pool laughing. "The look on the guy's face was priceless."

"Did you get it?" Tyler asked when Nick walked in.

Nick held up the bottle. "Yes I did, and isn't it funny that one of our dares for you ladies, is that you have to lick chocolate sauce off of us?"

"No way!" Claire said, turning to Nick.

"I know you a little too well." Nick said with a smirk. "Lather up boys!"

The guys made a trail of sauce from their stomach and up to their chest. They got to pick the girl that would lick it off of them so couples got paired up. Grace was once again glad for Tyler because she couldn't imagine doing this with a boy she wasn't dating. She could barely imagine doing it to Tyler and she really liked him, but she did do it, and so did all the other girls. They didn't want to say no to any dares because the guys would never let them live it down.

"Okay, dare two." Claire announced. "There's a banquet going on in the ballroom. We dare you to provide them with some entertainment when the band goes on break."

"What kind of entertainment?" Tyler asked.

"We we're thinking a little song and dance." Grace said. "And because we're nice, we'll let you choose between I'm a Little Tea Pot and the Macarena."

"You couldn't pick something cool, could you." Tyler said with a grin.

"Where's the fun in that?" Grace said as she returned the smile.

They all made their way to the ballroom on the other side of the building. Claire opened the door and peaked into the back of the room. "The band is on break right now," She said with a smile. "We're going in. We'll see you guys on stage."

The girls quietly slipped through the doors and stayed at the back corner. It was dark and there were people mingling all over the room. It only took a few minutes for the guys to get back stage and appear on the stage. The girls tried to hold it together during their performance to keep from drawing attention to themselves, but watching twelve guys dance the Macarena in their bathing suits was pretty funny to see. As soon as they were done, the girls bolted back to the pool, laughing the entire way and mocking the guys dance moves.

"Those people looked mortified!" Rachel laughed when the guys came in.

"Oh, you'll pay for that one." Jake said as he grabbed her and picked her up. "We dare you to spend ten minutes in the guy's washroom, in your bikinis, offering to dry their hands. And just for kicks, use the washroom outside the banquet."

"That's easy." Claire said as she led the girls back down the hall and towards the ballroom.

All twelve of them entered the bathroom as the guys hid in the stairwell and timed them. While on stage they noticed that many of the people in the room were male and just about all of them were drinking. They watched as many men made their way to the bathroom and watched their confused expressions when they left.

After ten minutes, the girls came out looking less than pleased but the guys were very happy with themselves. "Men are pigs. I seriously think some of them thought we were hookers." Claire said, causing the guys to laugh harder.

"Alright, what else do you have?" Tyler asked when they got back to the pool.

"Okay, we dare you," Claire started but was interrupted when the four coaches and seven chaperones walked in.

"Well I was hoping it wasn't my idiot team down here but of course it would be." The basketball coach all but roared. "The front desk just called me telling me to check on my team since there had been complaints about girls in bikinis in the men's room and guys dancing in their boxers on stage!"

"We were just having some fun, Coach." Nick tried to explain.

"I don't even care to know what the hell it was you were doing. Get your stuff and get back to your rooms." He yelled. "And you better hope this doesn't cost you a win tomorrow!"

Everyone scrambled to grab their things as the adults waited for them by the door, each one looking as unhappy as the next. The two teams followed the adults back upstairs and headed back into their rooms. Everyone was silent the entire time and it was a little unnerving. Grace and Rachel got changed for real this time and just finished getting ready when the chaperons knocked on the door to check on them for the second time that night. Grace opened the door to see Rachel's mom and another lady.

"Grace," She said. "I'm going to be staying with my daughter tonight. After recent events, there have been some room changes so that the chaperones are throughout the hall and not at the one end. Mrs. Andrews will take you to your Uncle's room."

Grace only nodded as she grabbed her bag and followed the lady down to Casey's room. She knocked on the door and she was surprised to see Jake answer the door, but she figured he got kicked out of his room too. Grace walked into the room and looked around for Dawson.

"Where's Dawson?" She asked Casey who was sitting on one of the beds.

"She left after curfew to see Mills." Casey said. "She'll be back tomorrow morning to see your competition."

"Why didn't she stay?"

Casey shrugged. "It's a little inappropriate for us to share a room, Grace. We're both seeing other people and she didn't get to see Mills all day."

"I was just asking." Grace mumbled before disappearing into the bathroom.

"So," Jake ventured as he flopped down on the second bed and interrupted their conversation. "Are you mad?"

Casey looked over at him. "About the pool thing?"

"Yeah," Jake said. "Breaking curfew and all that."

"We're you drinking? Or doing drugs or anything illegal?"

"No." Jake said as he frowned. "We were just swimming and having some fun with a little dare competition."

Casey nodded. "Then I'm not mad."

"Really?" He asked surprised.

"Yes, really." Casey mocked with a grin. "It's only ten and it's not like you guys were doing anything dangerous or illegal. Besides, I think you'll sleep better after wearing yourself out from swimming."

"I can't believe you're not mad."

"Do you want me to be mad?" Casey joked. "Jake, all the chaperones knew you were going to sneak out to do something. Sneaking into the pool to swim with the girls isn't a big deal. And a few little dares never hurt anyone."

"Coolest chaperone ever." Jake said and Casey laughed. "Can I persuade you into letting us pull a few pranks on the girls?"

"Don't push it, kid." Casey grinned.

"I had to try." he shrugged as Grace reappeared in the room. "Don't worry, we aren't in trouble."

Grace frowned as she sat on the bed next to Casey and leaned against the headboard. "Well, the coaches are mad. I can't believe the front desk called them."

"What exactly were you guys doing?" Casey asked.

"We were swimming and messing around, chicken fights and that stuff and then Nick suggested that we have a diving competition and go girls against guys with the winner getting to dare the loser to do something." Grace explained. "So the girls won eight dare and the guys one four."

"Totally rigged." Jake said as he shook his head.

Casey grinned at him. "What were the dares?"

"We dared Nick to ask the front desk for chocolate sauce in his boxers and we dared the entire team to dance and since the Macarena on stage at the banquet."

"And we dared the girls to lick chocolate sauce off of us and to spend ten minutes in their bikinis in the men's room offering to dry hands."

"Okay, funny," Casey said as he pointed at Grace. He then pointed to Jake. "Inappropriate."

"If Grace wasn't a part of it, you wouldn't think it was funny." Jake said with a smirk. "They were just a few harmless pranks."

"The bathroom thing was actually pretty creepy." Grace admitted. "I wanted to leave but Claire was determined not to give up and let you guys win."

"Yeah, I don't like that." Casey shook his head. "I think that was out of line."

Jake rolled his eyes. "I didn't come up with it."

"Hey," Casey called to get Jake's attention. "I'm not blaming you buddy, I just don't like the idea of my niece being in that kind of situation."

"Oh, but you're totally fine with me being onstage dancing like an idiot?" Jake grinned.

"I would have paid to see that." Casey laughed.

The next morning was chaotic as the two teams competed. Casey had to miss the first half of Jake's game to watch Grace's competition. He was dreading the conversation with Jake because he was starting to feel like he couldn't please one twin without upsetting the other. But surprisingly, Jake was okay with Casey watching Grace.

The cheerleaders performed and they were amazing. Their routine had great choreography and great dancers to pull off the steps on the floor. The cheerleading moves were flawless as the girls performed stunts in the air and on the ground. It was the perfect combination of dance and cheerleading moves to create a diverse routine that still had enough action and flare. Casey had seen Grace dance before, but he had never seen her in a cheerleading competition. He had to admit she was good, but it made him a little nervous to see her get thrown in the air.

When they were done, the cheerleaders had to move quickly to make it from the auditorium and over to the gym to cheer their team on in the second half. The basketball team was down by eight points at the half and by the look on the coach's face, it was because they weren't playing well. Grace and the cheerleaders warmed up and Casey took a seat with Severide. He explained that the game was physical and there had been a lot of fouls. They were getting angry and they weren't playing as a team which caused the coach to be less than happy.

Whatever pep talk, or maybe pep yell, the coach gave during the half seemed to work. The guys came out playing a lot better and were able to pull it together. It was still a physical game and it was still a close game but they managed to pull ahead by three points to win the game.

Hallie showed up for lunch, but this time she wanted to have lunch with Grace. The cheerleaders were done for the day and had to wait until the afternoon to hear the results. The basketball team had their semi-final game at one and were sent into a meeting room to discuss plays before being sent to the nets outside to work on free throws. Severide and Casey went to help Jake outside to let Grace and Hallie have lunch alone.

They ate in the hotel restaurant and once they placed their order, Grace turned to Hallie. "Why did you want to have lunch with me?"

"I wanted to talk to you Grace," She explained. "We used to be close and I know things are different now, but I'm not going to take Matt away."

Grace sighed. "Why are you back with him?"

"Because I love him, Grace." She said honestly. "And I really missed him when I was away."

"I just don't want you to hurt him again."

"I know and I don't want that either." She nodded. "I'm not sure where Matt and I stand, but I'd like to be with him and you and Jake are a part of his life now so I want to have a relationship with you too."

Grace stared at her for moment before speaking. "I really wish you would have just wanted kids. You could have been here the whole time."

"I know. It's something that I'm working on but Matt and I haven't discussed anything yet."

"I never told Matt this," Grace said. "But part of the reason Jake and I came out here to stay with Matt was because he was with you."

"Really?"

Grace nodded. "We wanted to be a part of a real family for once. You two were engaged and we knew you and we liked you and it just seemed perfect. When we used to visit you guys, we felt like a family and we wanted that permanently. But we got here and he said you two broke up because you didn't want kids. That really hurt because you were always so good with us."

"I'm sorry that I disappointed you." She said.

"I was mad at you." Grace admitted. "And not just because you hurt Matt, but because I was so close to having two parents that were together."

"Look, Grace," She said. "I can't promise you that Matt and I will work out or that you'll get that family that you want and deserve. But I can promise you that I will always be here for you."

**REVIEW! **


	20. Chapter 20

Grace couldn't sleep that night. She tossed and turned and listened as the rain pouring outside her window. She opened it and let the cool breeze of the night blow through her. She thought it would help somehow, but it just made her feel cold.

She tried to listen to music, thinking it could help her drift into sleep. She tried calling Tyler but he didn't answer. It was late and she figured he would have been asleep for a few hours now, like she should be. She even thought about calling her Mom, as most people do when things seem impossibly hard. Even with a mother that wasn't perfect, Grace still thought about it.

Grace could hear Matt downstairs. He was watching TV, or he at least had it on. Dawson showed up early and told them what had happened. The sight of her at the door sent chills down Grace's spine. She figured something happened to Matt but when Dawson told them Hallie had died, they knew this was going to be much worse than if Matt had gotten injured. He was strong, he could deal with his problems and his injuries and things in his control. But losing Hallie, well, that was something that could destroy everything they worked hard to build over the last few months.

Grace heard Matt come in a few hours ago. She heard the brief conversation he had with Dawson. And she heard Matt say he didn't know what to say to the twins, so it was good they were asleep. But they weren't asleep, at least Grace wasn't, and they weren't okay either.

Grace spent the last two hours lying in bed awake, trying to figure out what to say or what to do. She wanted to see him and talk to him. She was hurting too but she didn't want to burden him. In the end, she got up and crossed her room. She opened the door and walked to the top of the stairs. She paused for a few moments before she walked down them.

Casey was sitting on the couch, aimlessly flipping through the channels, but he wasn't going to find what he was looking for. He was too distracted with his own thoughts to hear her open her door or come down the stairs. He looked over when he saw her standing at the bottom of the stairs and watched her. He watched her struggle with her emotions, wondering what her next move was. She simply stared at him with a look on her face that was a combination of sympathy and hurt. He realized then that he wasn't the only one that had lost something tonight. She wasn't just sorry for him, she was actually sorry. And the look on her face wasn't sympathy, it was empathy.

"Hi," She said quietly.

"Are you going to come sit down or stand there all night?" He said jokingly.

"I don't know what to do." She said.

"Come here, Gracie." He said as he waved her over.

"No." She shook her head and remained at the bottom of the step, clinging to the banister. "If I come over there I'm going to cry and you're going to end up comforting me."

"I'm the adult," he explained. "That's how it works."

"Not this time." She said. "Not when it's your pain."

"Grace," Casey said as he stood up and took a few steps towards her.

"No, don't." She said again, trying to hold her emotions in check. "Uncle Matt, I want to be there for you this time. You're always there for us and you're always so strong and you don't have to be this time. Not for this."

"Grace, it's okay." Casey said as he reached her and put his hands on her shoulders. "You don't have to hold it all in because you want to be strong for me. Hallie was a part of our lives and our family for eight years. This is hard and it's going to get harder but we won't get through it unless we deal with it properly. So, come sit down and talk to me."

"I don't want to upset you."

"I'm already upset, Grace." He said softly as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and led her to the couch.

She sat down on the end and turned her position to face him as he sat in the middle. "Why can't things ever go right for us? I just once want something good to happen."

"Something good did happen, Grace." He said. "We're here together and we're doing alright, all things considered."

"You're not mad at me, right?" She said suddenly.

"Why would I be mad at you?" Casey frowned, surprised and confused by the question.

"I made you slow things down with her, you could have had more time."

Casey shook his head. "You didn't make me do anything. And no one knew this would happen so I'm not going to blame myself for that and neither should you."

"But why did she have to come back into our lives, makes us feel like we're all finally going to win and be happy and then she dies?" She asked. "If there is a God, why would he do that?"

"Sometimes, bad things just happen," He said. "For no reason at all."

Grace shook her head. "Are you okay?"

Casey stared at her for a moment, debating his answer. "No, Grace I'm not. And I may seem like I'm holding it together right now but you weren't at the hospital to see me break down. Hallie was the love of my life, I honestly believe that. It hurts like hell and it will probably get worse, but I promise I will always be here for you and Jake. It might take some time but everything is going to be okay."

"How do you know that?" Jake said from the bottom of the stairs.

"Come over here." Casey said as he looked over at his nephew. It was the first time he saw Jake show emotion or be visibly upset since the accident with his mom. Jake was never good at expressing emotion or dealing with grief. He locked them up inside and covered them with fake smiles and a goofy sense of humour.

Jake walked into the room slowly and sat on the end of the couch beside Casey. "I was just a little older than you two when my Dad died. My parents fought all the time and I never really had a strong, stable family home. Neither did you two and I think that's why this works so well because we help each other. But losing my Dad was one of the hardest things I ever went through. I was angry and upset and I felt like it was my fault. But after a while, the pain wasn't so strong anymore and the anger wasn't so ugly. It's really hard to lose someone, especially at first. Every time you think about them it brings pain, but eventually you realize you have good memories of them too and when you think of them, it doesn't hurt so much anymore."

"I think it's the shock of it all," Jake said. "It came out of left field and there's no explanation for it."

"That's the hardest part," Grace said. "We'll never know why this happened."

Casey looked to Jake and over at his niece. She had started crying a bit, she was the emotional twin. She always cried, just never in front of new people or out in public. Casey pulled her to his side and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She immediately looked to Jake and Casey noticed he was trying really hard to hold it together. Casey reached out an arm and pulled Lucas to his chest. He was surprised that his nephew let him comfort him and realized he must be really hurting to not refuse the affection.

"Look, we're all we have left and I won't lose you too." Casey said as he held them. "This isn't going to be easy but we have people to help us. We need to be a family right now and I need you to talk to me if you feel like you're losing control. We'll get through this, it won't be easy, but we'll figure it out. We always figure it out."

It had been a few days since Hallie's death. Casey had been off shift and working with the police on her case. He'd spend all day with them and then come home to be with the twins. He would keep it together around them, tell them only what he thought they needed to know and try to worry them. But they could see he was beginning to change.

The rumours were flying around the firehouse, the police department and the city about what had happened. The twins were given sympathetic looks at school and a few kind words were said but for the most part, people didn't say anything and they were glad for that. They had taken a week off of school but Casey wouldn't let them stay home any longer. They didn't mind going back to school, it gave them something to do and something to take their mind off of it.

But Casey was changing, he was becoming angry and on edge and the twins were beginning to notice his aggression. They understood, when they heard that Hallie had been killed they were angry too, but they were also scared. They were scared that he was going to get too caught up in everything. They were scared that this would kill him.

Severide and Dawson kept stopping by and the twins were glad for it. With Casey's absent, or minded absentness, it was nice to have other adults around to help them and to help him. Dawson's break up with Mills made her more available and the twins didn't mind that she was using them to keep her mind off of it because they were using her to do the same thing. Severide was busy with Shay and baby arrangements, which was a happy thing during all this sadness. It and work ate up a lot of his time but he tried his hardest to still be there for the twins.

Severide pulled into the school parking lot to pick the twins up a few days later. He had told Casey that he'd be there for him earlier as they shared a cigar. So when Casey got called away by the intelligence unit he asked Severide to pick them up. He was glad to do it, he hadn't seen much of them in the last few days and he was looking forward to hanging out with them for a bit.

Grace was standing on the front steps with Tyler, a few guys from the team and some cheerleaders. The twins didn't see him as he parked the car and turned it off so he watched them for a moment. He noticed Jake and another guy were arguing and before he knew it, a fight had started between them.

Jake started it by pushing the guy and when the guy pushed back, Jake punched him. The other guy tackled Jake and by the time Severide got out of the car and made his way over, they were wrestling on the ground and throwing a few swings here and there. Severide noticed some of the other guys were debating on breaking it up but it looked like none of them really wanted to get involved.

Severide made eye contact with Tyler before reaching down and pulling Jake off of the other guy. Tyler and another guy stepped in to hold back the other guy as Jake struggled against Severide's hold. Jake didn't notice that it was Kelly who had pulled him off until he turned Jake to face him.

"Jake, calm down." He gave him a stern, warning look as he shook him slightly. "Get in the car."

Nothing was said on the way back to the firehouse. Jake sat in the back to avoid Severide but he glanced at him a few times in the rear view mirror. He noticed that Jake seemed angry, really angry, but he also seemed upset. He kept quiet and when they reached the firehouse, he didn't even need to tell Jake to follow him.

When they got to his office, Severide closed the door and pulled out a first aid kit. Jake sat in the desk chair as Severide cleaned the blood off his face from his nose and split lip before giving him an ice bag. He was silent the entire time, and usually it would make Jake nervous, but not this time. This time he was still fuming mad and Severide wanted to know why.

"Well, nothing's broken." Severide concluded as he stood up and leaned against the desk.

"I'm fine." Jake mumbled.

Severide crossed his arms and glared at Jake. "What the hell happened?"

"Nothing," Jake said. "We just don't get along."

"So you decided to punch him?" Jake looked up but Severide continued. "Don't even think about lying to me because I saw the fight start and you started it."

"Yeah, I physically started it." Jake nodded. "But he was chirping me all week and I just got tired of listening to him. You can only turn a blind eye, or walk away so many times."

"You can always walk away." Severide said. "That's a lesson you need to learn."

"Why the hell do you even care, huh?"

Severide raised his eyebrows and shook his head. "Because I don't like that I had to pull your delinquent ass out of a fight."

"Whatever."

"You know what?" Severide said. "I suggest you lose the attitude and that chip on your shoulder. I'm only trying to help."

Jake was quiet for a few moments and Severide just watched him. He decided he was going to talk, because he needed to talk to someone. "The guy was Rachel's ex-boyfriend and he's been saying stuff to me about her and I don't like it. So yeah, I hit the guy and it felt really good."

"Jake, I know you, really well." He said. "You're not a violent person and you're not an angry person."

"No, but I'm angry right now." Jake said. "I have been for a while."

"Angry about what?"

Jake looked at Severide before speaking. "What is Matt doing?"

Severide frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Don't treat me like a kid or some fragile person. I'm not going to break so tell me the truth." Jake demanded. "He's working with the police, with that dirty cop that tried to kill him because someone killed Hallie. He's getting deeper and deeper and I've already watched my Dad get lost in gang related things. I know what it looks like and I know what it does to a person."

Severide shook his head. "Jake, Matt is not your Dad. Yeah, he's working on the case with the police and Voight. I don't like the guy either and I don't trust him but like it or not, he's a good detective and because Matt was so close with Hallie, they need his help in the investigation. This is how it works, but I promise you, I will not let him get lost in it."

"You shouldn't make promises you can't keep." Jake said.

"Jake, I keep my promises, especially ones like this." Severide said as he made eye contact. "Matt is one of my best friends and I'd trust him with my life. I won't let him lose his life."

Jake nodded. "Can we keep the fight between us?"

Severide smirked. "I'd like to, but I think your face is going to give you away."

"How bad is it?"

"Your lip is split and you'll probably have a nice shiner."

Jake shrugged. "Maybe it will make you look tough.

"You want to look tough?" Severide said. "Learn to walk away."

The twins were getting ready for the opening of Molly's and the celebration for Hallie later that night. Severide had called Casey and told him what happened with Jake so he wouldn't be surprised when he saw his face. He also told him about Jake's fear of Casey following in his Dad's footsteps.

Casey realized he needed to back off on this police business. He knew he was getting caught up in it. Nothing makes you realize how far you have gone like a guy putting a gun to your head. He didn't want to destroy the family that they had created and he didn't want to scare them.

He walked into the house to change and pick the twins up. He went straight upstairs and noticed Grace was still getting ready. He gave her a look as she said she'd be ready in ten minutes. Casey changed quickly and headed downstairs. He found Jake in the kitchen, who looked up briefly when he came in.

"Let me see." Casey said and placed his hand under Jake's chin to tilt his face up to the light. He sighed as he let go. "This is your only warning about fighting."

"Yes, sir." Jake mumbled.

"And Jake," Casey said as he put his hands on his nephew's shoulders. "I'm sorry if I worried you. I got caught up in trying to find who did this to Hallie and it wasn't fair to you and Grace to watch it get the best of me. That's over now."

"I want to say I'm fine and that it's okay," Jake struggled. "I'm not good at this expressing my feelings thing. I know you are nothing like my Dad but this week you reminded me of him and it freaked me out because you're not him and I don't want you to be like him. I want my uncle back and I want everything to just go back to the way it was. I'm tired of things getting messed up and changing all the time and bad things happening. I just want things to go right for once."

Casey nodded. "And they will, Jake. I know it seems like it's one thing after the another but we'll always be a family and I'll always be here for you two. That's one thing that is never going to change."

Jake nodded as Casey gave him a strong one armed hug. Grace was finally ready and made her way down the stairs to meet them at the door. They drove to the bar and as they walked inside they looked around at everyone that had showed up to support him.

The twins watched him greet people and listened to him talk about Hallie. The story of their first date and watching him tear up was hard for everyone to see and hear, but it showed that he was moving forward in the grieving process. And for the first time since she passed, Jake believed that everything was going to turn out okay.

"Uncle Matt," Jake whispered. "It's the Stanley cup."

Casey grinned at him. "Why don't you take a picture with it? With that black eye you really look like a hockey player, all you need is a few missing teeth."

**A/N: This is probably the only chapter I'm really going to discuss Hallie and her death, unless something crazy happens in the finale that makes a connection with her. I might mention her here and there but I'd like to go back to the twins and Casey and their family life. So if you have any wacky ideas of family fun or adventures or something, let me know! And please review! **


	21. Chapter 21

Grace stumbled into the house as quietly as possible but of course, you are most loud when you are trying to be quiet. She was trying to navigate the dark rooms and debated what she was going to do. She was deciding between carefully creeping up the stairs, sleeping on the couch or attempting to make food. Thankfully, Jake was with her and he had been in this situation more than once.

The twins had been at a party. Like any other high school party it was full of alcohol, drugs and bad choices. Usually Grace wasn't the party type, but she had changed a lot since moving to Chicago and she wanted to experience high school life. With everything going on in their lives she needed a night to let loose and have fun. They all needed a night like that.

She was drunk, no doubt about it. She had never drank before and she may have gone a little overboard. She was trying to hold it together and not go too far and she was doing well. She didn't get sick, she didn't pass out and she didn't do or say anything she would regret. She just had a few drinks, was feeling good and let herself have some much deserved fun.

The only problem was that they had broken curfew and that they were both drunk. Not to mention Grace was pretty sure Jake was high. She never touched the stuff, she was never interested, but Jake was the more rebellious twin. Grace was glad that Tyler passed on it too, even though she understood that teenagers experimented.

They didn't make it very far down the hall before the kitchen light was turned on. Casey and Severide were sitting at the table and waiting for them. Grace wasn't sure why they chose to sit in the dark but she figured they were trying to create a dramatic effect. They probably saw them get dropped off and then come up with this plan. Grace tried to stifle a laugh as she watch them both sit at the table, arms crossed and with serious expressions on their faces.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" Casey said.

Grace turned and looked at the clock on the stove. "I believe it is one forty five."

Casey stared at her for a moment before turning to Severide. "Is she drunk?" He asked, his voice beginning to rise. "Is my fifteen year old niece drunk right now, with an attitude after she broke curfew? Please tell me I am hearing and seeing things."

Severide was staring Jake down. "Jake," He said calmly. "What did you take?"

"What?" Casey snapped his attention to his nephew as Grace smirked.

"What are you laughing about, little girl?" Severide asked.

"I am drunk," She began to giggle. "I don't even care, guys. I'm so drunk, I can barely walk and I'm starving. I had a great night and even if you ground me for life Uncle Matt, I won't care because for a few hours I got to escape all the pain and misery that life just keeps throwing at us. So I'm going to make some food and enjoy this bliss before it wears off, and when it wears off, then you can yell at me."

Severide and Casey were both stunned as they listened to her. Even Jake was a little surprised, but he decided to push his luck. "Yeah, what she said. And I'm high. It's only weed though."

Casey just shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Sit down, both of you."

"Uncle Matt I'm seriously hungry." Grace whined as she opened the fridge.

"And I'm seriously losing my patience." He said firmly. "Sit down."

"Can we make food first before you start yelling?" She continued as she opened the freezer.

"Grace, sit down now." He said, punctuating each syllable. She continued to ignore him as she pulled a pizza out from the freezer. "If you don't get over here in five seconds, I'm going to take a page out of Benny Severide's parenting book and put you over my knee."

Grace stared at him with a look between confusion and bewilderment. "What?"

"One, Two, Three," He began but only got that far before she came and sat down at the table. He looked between the twins and wondered what was going on. He admitted that he hadn't been the best role model lately, but he was trying his best. "Who drove you home?"

"Rachel," Jake said. "She hasn't drank since that night she got alcohol poisoning here."

Casey nodded, not wanting to think about that night. "How much did you drink?"

Jake shrugged. "I only had a few beers and I only took a few hits."

Casey turned to Grace. "And you?"

"I didn't do drugs."

Casey was beginning to get annoyed with his niece. "What did you drink Grace and how much?"

"Oh, I don't know."

"Grace," Severide warned.

"I don't really remember."

"She was drinking coolers with all the other girls," Jake said. "She maybe had four or five. She's never drank before and she's like a hundred and ten pounds so it's a lot for her."

"I'm fine." She insisted. "Other than being hungry."

Casey sighed and glared heavily at his nice. Grace shrugged and gave him her best puppy dog eyes accompanied with an innocent smile. Casey turned to Severide and shook his head. "Is it even worth trying to talk to them right now?"

"Nope," Severide said as he got up to turn on the oven. "But we can lecture and yell tomorrow when they are hung over, and that will probably be more fun."

"I read online that if you drink lots of water, take aspirin and eat food before you go to sleep, you won't be hung over the next day." Grace said.

Severide looked at her and tried not to laugh, but a smile slipped through. "What, did you Google that?"

"Maybe," Grace shrugged. "I was trying to be responsible."

"Responsible is not drinking at fifteen." Casey said firmly. "And not breaking curfew."

"I should get a pass!" Grace argued. "This is the first time I broke curfew or got drunk, or even drank!"

"You don't ever get a pass on those things," Casey continued with a stern voice. "You don't learn anything that way so let me make myself clear; tomorrow we will be having a long discussion, you will be grounded and this better never happen again."

Grace frowned, crossed her arms and huffed like a little kid. "Why are you being so mean to me?"

Casey looked at her and shook his head. "What?"

"You have a double standard." She mumbled. "You haven't even said anything to Jake and he's drunk and high! And he's done this before."

"He's not the one arguing with me." Casey said as he glanced at Jake. "He knows I am not happy with him and he will be grounded too."

"Don't even bother, Uncle Matt." Jake said. "She's an attention seeking drunk. No matter what you say, you are always the bad guy."

"Well that was just rude." Grace said as she got up to leave.

They watched her walk out of the room and heard the front door open and close. They looked around at each other before Severide spoke up. "I'll go."

Casey watched him leave the room before turning to Jake. "How many times have you smoked weed?"

Jake squirmed under his gaze. "A few."

"Define a few."

"Maybe three or four times." Jake admitted. "But I've never bought it or done it at or near school."

"If you come home high ever again or I hear or even suspect that you were doing drugs," Casey shook his head and let the threat hang.

"Let me guess," Jake said. "You'll take page out of Benny Severide's parenting book?"

Casey nodded. "I just might, Jake. I am completely against all drug use, especially with my own kids." Jake smirked and Casey frowned. "What's funny?"

"You said "my kids"," Jake explained. "I've pretty much always considered you a father figure, and now especially since we live with you. It's just cool that you feel the same way."

"Well, of course I do you knuckle head." Casey grinned as he messed up Jake's hair and pulled him into a one armed hug. "I love you, kid."

"I know, I love you too. You should tell Grace that." Jake said. "Even if you think she knows, you have to tell her, multiple times. Grace is pretty messed up from my parents. She's basically got herself convinced that nothing will ever work out and that everyone will end up leaving her."

"Why is that?"

Jake shrugged. "Kind of hard to believe in happy endings when you've never had one."

"Well we're going to have one." Casey said.

"I know that, and you know that but she doesn't know that. Or she doubts it. Why do you think she's out there?" He asked. "She just wanted to see if anyone would follow her."

"Well I'll go fix that right now." Casey nodded. "Put the pizza in the oven."

Severide found Grace sitting on the front steps with her arms wrapped around her knees that were pulled tightly to her chest. He was expecting her to be crying, but she wasn't, she was just looking up at the sky. "What are you doing, huh?" Severide nudged her as he sat down. "Drinking, breaking curfew, arguing with Matt?"

"I can't see any stars," She mumbled. "Matt used to take us camping somewhere around here and the stars lit up the sky like candles in a dark room when the power goes out."

"Grace," Severide called softly. "What's wrong?"

Severide watched her gaze drop from the sky to the tree tops and her forehead crease. "Is he okay?"

"Matt?" Severide asked. "Yeah he's fine."

"No he isn't." She shook her head. "He's trying to be fine, but he isn't. And I'm just waiting for him to realize that he doesn't want to do this anymore."

"Do what?"

"Be a parent to teenage kids that aren't even his." She sighed. "My parents are going to get out of rehab soon and I don't think he has the strength to fight for custody. And maybe he doesn't want to."

"Why do you always have him with one foot out the door?" Severide frowned.

"Because everyone in my life is never in it for long." She said. "Things go good for a few months and then all hell breaks loose. Hallie's death opened the flood gates and now I'm just waiting for the storm. We're passed our expiration date."

"Okay, Grace you don't have a shelf life and Matt has definitely been the one constant thing in your life." Severide said. "He's having a rough time, yeah, but he will be okay, it just takes time. But he's not going to give you two up. You are his life now and as far as he is concerned, you two are his kids."

"You don't know that." She mumbled.

"Yeah he does," Casey called from behind her. "Because I told him that."

Severide squeezed her shoulder before he got up and nodded at Casey. "Time to switch."

Casey smirked before he sat down beside Grace. "So were you trying to get my attention or see if I'd care?"

Grace shrugged. "I was just trying to feel better."

"Do you?"

"Yeah," She nodded. "Or I did until I came home. It was nice to get my mind off of things for a while."

"You don't need alcohol to do that and I don't like that you drank."

She sighed. "I know."

"I'm not going to leave, Grace." He said as he watched her stare off into the night. "I'm not going to let you go back without a fight. I'm not going to let them take you away from me. I'm not going to emotionally disconnect from you because of Hallie's death. I'm not going to get tired of being a parent to you. I'm not going to stop loving you, no matter what you do or say. I'm always going to be here Grace, so whatever fear you have locked up, let it go because it's not going to become reality. I don't know why we always end up here with me having to reassure you that I'm not going anywhere, but I'll keep doing it until you believe me."

Grace turned to look at him. "Promise?"

He smirked. "I promise."

Grace followed her uncle back into the kitchen and sat down at the table with Jake and Severide. Casey cut the pizza and placed it on the table. "Enjoy your last meal." Severide joked as he grabbed a slice.

"So, if we're grounded," Jake said. "Does that mean that we don't have to go to the dinner tomorrow?"

"Oh, you're going." Casey said.

Jake sighed. "Fine, there's beer there right?"

Casey stared at his nephew. "You're not funny."

"Oh come on, I'm a little funny." Jake grinned and Casey couldn't help but crack a smile as he shook his head.

"Tomorrow is going to be quiet the interesting night." Severide added.

"It's a couple's dinner," Grace said. "It's going to be boring."

"It's not a couple's dinner." Casey frowned.

"Oh please," Grace rolled her eyes. "Dawson and you and Kelly and Renee. I don't even understand why Jake and I have to go."

"It's a family dinner," Severide corrected. "I want you guys to meet Renee. Casey is basically my brother, which makes you two my niece and nephew. And you forgot that Shay is going."

"Right," Grace nodded, drawing out the word. "So how does Dawson fit into this family dinner?"

"She's a really good friend of mine." Severide shrugged. "And a good friend of Shay's."

"And a good friend of Matt's," Jake mumbled.

"Not you too." Casey said. "Dawson and I are just friends."

"You can't be just friends with a girl." Jake said.

"Yes you can," Severide said. "Shay and I are the best example."

"Shay is gay!" Jake and Grace said at the same time before they started to laugh.

"She doesn't count because she will never be attracted to you." Jake explained.

"Well with that logic, Shay can be attracted to Dawson and they're still good friends."

"Yeah but they're both girls." Grace said. "We're talking about a guy and a girl who can't be just friends."

"Oh my God," Casey as he ran a hand over his face. "Dawson and I are just friends."

"For now." Grace said with a grin. "It's going to happen and you know it!"

"If it happens, it happens but listen up Gracie," Casey said as he put his arm across the back of his chair and leaned in slightly. "Do not try to play matchmaker."

"I said it before and I'll say it again, you don't have to play matchmaker when the chemistry is already there."

"Go to bed before I strangle you." Casey joked.

"You love me!" Grace said as she wrapped her arms around his neck tightly for a quick hug.

"Yes, I do." Casey said as he pulled her back in for a longer hug. "But remember, you have a boyfriend and I have many embarrassing stories and the pictures to prove it."


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: Extra-long chapter because I made you wait so long. Enjoy! Please review with ideas because I'm kind of running low lately without the show!**

"Birthday, Birthday, Birthday!" Grace yelled as she bounced into the kitchen of the firehouse before school. "It's my birthday!"

Severide grinned as she launched into his arms for a hug. "It's your birthday?"

"It is! All day long!" She announced.

"Oh that's right," he nodded with a grin. "Happy Birthday darling."

"Thank you!" She smiled.

"Want your gift?" He teased.

"Yes!" She said. "I love presents!"

"No presents until after dinner tonight." Casey said as he walked into the room with Jake close behind.

"That is so unfair, Uncle Matt!" She whined. "You're going to make me wait all day?"

"Grace, you're sixteen, not six."

"How old am I again?" She said with a big smile.

Casey grinned at her. "Sixteen."

"Oh, I just love the sound of that!" She beamed. "It sounds so much older than fifteen."

"That's because it is, Einstein." Jake mumbled as he sat down in one of the chairs.

"Not a fan of birthdays, Jake?" Dawson smirked.

"It's just a birthday." He confirmed. "The gift part is cool but no need to go insane. I've shared my birthday with that ball of energy for sixteen years."

"You love me!" She declared. "And you love our birthday!"

"Please make her shut up." Jake said to Casey. "It's too early and she will be this cheery all day long and I'm stuck with her so for the love of God, just make her shut up for now."

"Jake," Casey warned. "Grace come eat, please."

"Do I get my favourite breakfast because it's my birthday?" Grace asked Mills.

"Well of course," He said. "Chocolate chip pancakes with strawberry and whip cream."

"Yay! Thanks!"

"Oh my God, did you even get him to make you your favourite lunch and pack you your favourite snacks?" Jake taunted.

"No," Grace said. "Tyler is taking me out for lunch."

"Shocker." Jake mumbled.

"What's wrong with you?" Grace frowned. "Why are you being so mean?"

"I'm not being mean," Jake said. "I'm just tired of your demanding princess behaviour on OUR birthday. Don't you think you're a little too old for it all now? Besides, did you forget that it isn't just your day? It's my birthday too."

"You don't even like birthdays."

"No, I like birthdays. I just hate sharing mine with you because you always make it all about you."

"Okay, enough." Casey interrupted. "Both of you just eat."

"I'm not hungry." Jake mumbled as he got up from the table and left the room.

Casey sighed and ran a hand over his face. "I've got it," Severide said and headed for the door.

Severide found Jake shooting baskets outside. He was continuously missing free throws and increasingly getting angrier. "Are you going to tell me what's wrong or do I have to guess?"

"You won't be able to guess. Password is my birthday, today." Jake said as he tossed his phone to Severide before continuing to shoot.

Severide caught the phone and dialed the voicemail and listened. He frowned during it and sighed once it was over. "Did you tell Casey?"

"No, I didn't tell anyone." Jake slammed the ball down. "He checked out. I called the rehab and he checked out a month ago. Did you hear that message? Did you hear him slur his words and the music in the background and the girl's voice that is not my mom?"

"Yeah, buddy, I heard." Severide said softly.

"God Kelly, it's like every time I feel like I'm moving forward something else happens." He threw the ball at the wall again. "I'm tired of it. I don't want that life or any connections to it anymore. I want them both to go away forever."

"I know, Jake." Severide nodded.

"Why couldn't Matt have been our Dad?" Jake said seriously. "He deserves his own kids and they don't deserve us. So why did they get us?"

"They don't have you. Matt has you two." Severide pointed out. "Look Jake, I get why you're upset but you're letting them control you. They are far away and they aren't coming back. If you want to forget about them, then forget. Don't let them ruin any more birthdays or any other day for that matter."

"That's hard to do when they can call whenever they want."

Severide grinned. "I may have a solution to that problem. Come on."

Jake followed Severide back into the kitchen and watched him grab two boxes out of his bag. "I'm breaking the rule, Casey." He said as he handed the boxes to the twins and watched them open them.

"No way!" Grace exclaimed as she pulled out the new IPhone 5 in white. "I love it!"

"Awesome." Jake smirked as he held a black IPhone 5. "Thanks."

Severide clapped a hand on Jake's shoulder. "You have new numbers so you'll have to tell your friends."

Jake grinned and was surprised how quickly his mood changed. He grabbed something to eat quickly as they had to leave for school. Casey drove them and talked about the dinner tonight. They were having a birthday dinner at the firehouse with everyone before they went out with their friends. Jake was surprised when Casey didn't lecture them on curfew and no parties but he figured it was too long of a lecture for only a ten minute drive and he'd probably save it for after dinner.

"Did you know Kelly was going to get us phones?" Grace asked.

"Yes, he asked if it was okay." Casey nodded.

"I'm so glad you said yes." Grace smiled. "This phone is amazing."

"Listen," Casey said seriously. "Part of the reason you got new numbers was because I don't want you to give them to your parents. There's some bumps in the road and it's better if they are not able to contact you directly. If you want to talk to them, they have my number, but this is for the best."

"What do you mean bumps in the road?" Grace frowned.

"That's a conversation for another day." Casey said as he pulled up to the school. "Have a good day. Don't be late for dinner."

Ooooo

Jake, Grace, Rachel and Tyler got to the firehouse just before five that night. Grace was a little upset that Casey had to work on her birthday but she liked the idea of having a big dinner with everyone in the house. They were keeping it simple and having a BBQ because between the firefighters and all their significant others, it was a fair size group of people.

The dinner was fairly casual and thankfully it was not cut short or interrupted by a call. They made the rounds to talk to everyone and thank them for coming before dinner. Then they ate and had cake before they were asked to come outside for their gifts.

"Everyone here at the house chipped in to make your sixteenth birthday extra special," Herrmann said as they stepped outside to see a black car sitting in the driveway. "You'll have to share but it's only four years old and it is in very good condition."

"You got us a car?" Grace said with pure shock on her face.

"This is awesome!" Jake yelled. "Uncle Matt we can keep it right?"

Casey grinned. "Yes, but there are rules and you do have to share."

"Who cares!" Grace said. "This is amazing, thanks everyone!"

"Yeah, thanks guys." Jake added.

"Here are the keys." Casey said as he held them out. "My gift to you is in the glove box."

Jake grabbed the keys and opened up the door to look in the glove box. He pulled out two envelopes and handing Grace hers. Casey watched them open them and start to read before they realized and looked up with excitement.

"Breakthrough Basketball Camp with Don Kilbeck?" Jake said as he looked at Casey. "Is this real?"

Casey laughed. "Yeah, you're coach told me about it."

"This is like a golden ticket to a starting position next year." Jake grinned. "Best. Gift. Ever."

Casey nodded with a smile. "I'm glad you like it."

"Like it?" Jake shook his head. "No, I love this."

"Good to know." Casey smirked as he looked at Grace.

"This is Ballet School." She said slowly. "At the Joffrey Academy of Dance."

"Do you like it?" Casey asked, unsure how to read her.

"We could never afford Joffrey when we lived here."

"Don't worry about the money." Casey said as he approached her. "I can afford it and you deserve to go."

"I always wanted to go." She looked up at him with a smile and jumped into his arms. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Casey grinned and held her tight in his arms. "You're welcome sweetheart."

The twins thanked everyone for coming to dinner and for the car. They were extremely excited about the car as they grabbed their bags and headed back outside, fighting over who gets to drive it first. Casey followed them outside but he didn't hand the keys over immediately.

"And here comes the lecture." Jake mumbled.

Casey gave him a look. "Be safe. Driving is not a right, it is a privilege and privileges can be taken away. So drive carefully and follow all rules or I take this away until you are responsible enough. Got it?"

"Got it." The twins echoed.

"Home by midnight and I will be calling the home phone to make sure you are there." Casey said as he handed the keys to Jake. "No parties."

They nodded and excitedly got in the car. Casey watched them drive away and couldn't help but feel nervous. He had to let them drive, they did past all the tests after all, but it was nerve racking to watch them drive off on their own.

Ooooooo

"He's going to kill me." Jake said to Nick as they sat in the police station. The officer had just informed him that Casey was on his way and Jake felt his stomach drop.

"Maybe he'll understand." Nick shrugged. "It's not like we were doing drugs or anything. We were just racing on an old track. It's not even that dangerous. My Dad used to race there."

"My uncle is not like you're Dad." Jake said. "I'm dead."

"It's just a speeding ticket."

Jake stared at him with disbelief. "We are sitting in a police station."

"We didn't get arrested."

"We got charged with trespassing and reckless driving!"

"Bro, I'm trying to calm you down." Nick smirked.

"Well it's not working." Jake sighed. "You don't know Matt. He's a firefighter. He's all about safety and responsible behaviour."

"Is he on shift tonight?"

Jake nodded. "Which means he has to leave work and he'll be even more pissed off."

"Maybe it won't be that bad. It's your birthday, maybe he'll give you a break." Nick said but when he saw Casey walk in with a scowl on his face a few minutes later, he quickly changed his mind. "Never mind, you are dead."

Casey walked into the station and saw Jake and Nick sitting on a bench. He gave Jake a look that made him quickly drop his gaze to the floor. Casey shook his head and approached the desk. The police officer knew him and gave him a sympathetic smirk as he handed him papers to sign.

"I think we scared them enough not to do it again," The officer said quietly. "We can drop all charges as a warning but not if it happens again."

Casey nodded. "I appreciate that."

"Don't mention it, just make sure to save me first if this building ever catches fire."

Casey smirked. "You got it."

"Go easy, he's a good kid."

Casey handed the paperwork back and walked over to his nephew. He knew Jake was nervous and he was glad. The police may have gone easy on him but he wasn't going to let Jake off. Casey reached down and pulled Jake up by his upper arm and dragged him over to the desk of the officer.

"You apologize right now, thank the officer for saving your ass and promise him that this will never happen again," Casey said as he looked straight into Jake's eyes. "Because it will not ever happen again."

Jake turned to the officer. "I'm sorry. I was stupid and reckless and I swear I won't do it or anything that will get me here again."

"You make sure of that."

Jake nodded. "Yes sir."

"Let's go." Casey growled as he took hold of Jake's arm again. He nodded to the office and began to pull his nephew to the door. On their way he noticed Nick's parents come through the door and he gave them a simple nod. Once they were outside Jake tried to pull out of Casey's grasp.

"I can walk by myself." He said. "You're hurting me."

"Get in the truck." Casey growled as they reached the truck and he let go of him. "I'll get someone to pick up the car since obviously I can't trust you to drive it."

"I get it you're mad." Jake said once they were in the truck.

"You're damn right I'm mad." Casey said with a raised voice. "Are you kidding me, Jake? What kind of stupid stunt was this? I have to leave work because my sixteen year old nephew gets picked up by the police for racing cars. You haven't even had the damn car for a full day yet!"

"It was an abandoned track it's not like we were driving on the street with traffic."

Casey stared at him for a moment before his anger exploded. "It doesn't matter where you were! You were still driving way too fast and being reckless. It only takes a split second for something to go wrong and you're dead! I already saw you in a car accident once; I don't need to see it again."

Jake was quiet for a moment as he remembered that day. "Sorry."

Casey shook his head as he put the key in the ignition. "I don't want to hear it Jake."

"But Uncle Matt, I didn't plan to do it." Jake tried to explain.

"Jake, I'm so angry and so disappointed that I can't even look at you right now." Casey said as he put the truck in drive and pulled out of the parking lot. "I'm bringing you home and then I'm going back to work and we'll talk about it tomorrow once I've calmed down."

Jake remained silent on the drive back to the house. He wasn't sure if Casey was trying to make him feel guilty, but if he was, it was working. He got out of the truck slowly and followed Casey in the house. Casey walked through the front door and called out for Grace.

As he stepped into the hallway he heard a sudden eruption of noise from the living room. He frowned and rounded the corner to see what was going on. He crossed his arms over his chest as he watched the two teenagers scramble off the couch. Tyler was shirtless and it didn't take a genius to figure out what was probably going to happen if he hadn't come home. Casey picked up his shirt from the chair and held it out to Tyler.

"Put it on and go home." Tyler got dressed and grab his bag but as he headed for the door, Casey stopped him. "You are not allowed in this house unless I am here, do you understand me?"

"Yes sir."

"Good," Casey nodded towards the door. "Drive safe."

Casey crossed his arms and stared at his niece who was sitting on the couch. It was suddenly extremely apparent to him that she was not a little girl anymore. "Both of you get an overnight bag and get back down here in five minutes."

"Why?" Grace said.

"Because I said so." Casey barked at her. "Between coming home drunk last weekend, having to pick you up at the police station and coming home to you and your half naked boyfriend, I'm done. So don't argue with me."

"I wasn't arguing. I was just asking." Grace said quietly.

Casey gave her a look and shook his head. They both went upstairs and reappeared quickly. The drive to the firehouse was unpleasant and awkward. Casey was upset and tired and they didn't want to push him any farther. Besides, they didn't really know what to say anyway, so they didn't say anything at all.

They walked into the house and saw Dawson and Shay cleaning the ambulance. Dawson looked up and frowned at Casey who only sighed as he pushed Grace towards them. "Explain safe sex to her please because I can't do it."

Casey ignored the three absurd looks he was getting from the girls and walked with Jake down the hall. Jake followed him into the kitchen and watched him pull out the chair at the end of the table. "Take a seat, Jake."

Jake nervously sat down and looked around at the firefighters in the house. Some of them were sitting at the table or on the couches, some were leaning on the kitchen counter and some were standing. But they all wore the same expression which meant they all knew why Casey left.

"What's going on?"

Casey put his hands on the back of the chair and leaned forward slightly. "What you did was beyond stupid."

Jake sighed. "I know that, Uncle Matt."

"No you don't know." Severide interrupted. "You don't know that things can easily become fatal when you're being reckless. You don't know that the number one cause of death in teenagers is motor vehicle accidents. You don't know how easy it is to lose control when you're going that fast. You don't know any of this because you haven't been exposed to it yet. It's not a nice lesson to learn and I know because I learned it the hard way. I used to race on that track and so did most of the people in this room, or they did something similar, and each one of us has a story of why we stopped doing it."

"And you're going to hear every single one." Casey said. "You're going to listen to stories about friends we lost, people we hurt, lives that were changed forever."

Ooooooo

"Okay what the hell just happened?" Shay said when Casey and Jake walked through the door.

Grace sighed and dropped her bag. "He walked in on Tyler and I making out on the couch."

"And he got that upset?" Dawson asked with a frown.

"Well, Tyler was shirtless."

Shay smirked. "That would do it."

"So, were you planning on doing more?" Dawson asked.

Grace shrugged. "I don't know, maybe."

"Well we already gave you the respect yourself and make sure you're ready, talk." Shay said. "I'm guessing you're past the questioning it stage."

"Okay, yeah I want to have sex with him." Grace said. "It's my birthday so I figured it would be special."

"Birthday sex, right." Shay nodded.

"Do you know how to use a condom?" Dawson asked, ignoring Shay's comment.

"No," Grace said awkwardly. "I figure he should know how, right?"

Dawson and Shay exchanged a look and grinned. "He should and you should too. You don't want any mistakes." Shay explained. "And you need to go on the pill."

"I am on it." Grace said. "I've been on it for two months."

"You went to see a doctor?" Dawson asked.

Grace nodded. "Hallie got it for me."

"Oh," Dawson said. She couldn't explain it, but she felt a little jealous that she wasn't the one that took Grace. "Okay, that's good then."

"Yeah, so you really don't need to talk to me." Grace said. "I mean, we've already talked. And I talked to Christie and Hallie and I'm on the pill. And I love him."

Shay and Dawson shared a look again and grinned. "Awww."

Grace smiled and rolled her yes. "Don't do that."

"Just make sure you have a safe place." Shay said. "Don't do it in his car."

"Well I was planning on using my room when Matt is on shift," Grace said. "But I'm not sure that's going to work now. He'll probably get us a baby sitter."

"He'll get over it." Dawson said. "I'll talk to him."

Oooooo

Jake left the kitchen and walked down the hall and into Casey's office. The stories were horrible and sad. Everyone had known someone that had either died in high school or could never walk again. They told him about calls they went on with teenagers in cars and he just couldn't take it anymore.

He slammed the office door and flopped down on the bed and cried. He wasn't even embarrassed or ashamed to be crying. Anyone would want to cry after hearing about all that. Hell, some of the guys teared up telling those stories and they were grown men.

Jake heard the door open and close and he heard Casey sigh before sitting down on the edge of the bed. Jake was turned towards the wall with his head buried in the pillow. He sniffled a few times as Casey put a comforting hand on his back.

"We need to talk, buddy." Casey sighed when Jake didn't move. "I'm not having a conversation with the back of your head." Jake sat up and turned to face his uncle. He leaned against the wall and held the pillow to his chest in his arms.

"Why?" Jake asked. "Why did you do that?"

"Because I don't want you to have a story like that one day, nor do I want you to become a story like that. I'll never forgive myself if something happens to you." Casey said. "Which is why you're grounded for a month. I know you don't understand and you think I'm being harsh and unfair but I need to keep you safe."

"I understand." Jake mumbled. "I'm sorry."

Casey reached out and cupped his chin. "I know and I forgive you but I better never get another phone call like that again, clear?"

"Yes, sir."

Casey released him and nodded. "Are you okay?"

"Are you still mad at me?" Jake countered.

"No, but I am disappointed in your choices tonight."

"That's worse." Jake said.

Casey smirked. "Maybe but I need to make sure you learn this lesson. I don't want you to learn it the hard way either. You were lucky tonight, you might not be the next time."

"I know." Jake sighed.

"Do you want to stay in here?" Jake nodded. "Alright, I'll check on you later."

Casey was about to get up but instead decided to reach out and pull Jake tightly to his chest. He held him there for a few seconds and Jake let him. "Don't ever do that to me again."

Ooooo

Casey left his office and went looking for Grace. She had finished talking to Shay and Dawson and needed a break after a very awkward condom demonstration. She saw Casey at the end of the hallway coming towards her and he looked just as unsure as she did.

Neither one of them really knew what to say. It was pretty awkward to talk about sex to any adult, especially ones that are related to you. She wanted to just pretend it never happened but she didn't think she was going to get off that easily.

"Hi," She said quietly as she approached him.

"Hi," He nodded. "I think we need to have a talk."

"I really don't want to."

Casey sighed. "Yeah, neither do I."

They made it simple and stepped into one of the meeting rooms. It was empty and they wouldn't be disturbed. "We're not having sex." Grace blurted out once he closed the door.

"Okay," Casey nodded. "Were you planning on having it, if I didn't come home?"

"I don't know," Grace said, becoming embarrassed. "I guess."

"You guess?" Casey frowned.

"Uncle Matt this is awkward to tell you!" She said.

"And you think it isn't awkward for me?" He asked.

Grace sighed. "It hasn't happened yet but I think we're both ready. I'm on the pill and we have condoms. I love him and he loves me."

"All good things to know." Casey nodded. "But you didn't answer my question."

Grace hesitated for a moment more. "Okay, yeah. I planned to have sex with him tonight because it's my birthday and you weren't home so it kind of worked out."

"Grace, as much as I want to stop you from doing this, I don't think that I can. But I will say that I really wish you'd wait. I know you think everything seems perfect and it's the right time but you are very young and sex is a big deal. It carries a lot of emotions and I don't think you, or any teenager for that matter is emotionally ready to deal with the aftermath of sex."

"It's my choice to make, Uncle Matt."

"I know that." He said sincerely. "And no matter what, I'm always going to love you. I want you to be safe and not just physically, Grace. Protect your heart. Make sure you really want to do this and you're doing it for the right reasons. Remember that sex is an act of love and remember that this is something you can't take back."

Grace crossed the room, closing the short distance between them and hugged him. "Thanks for not getting mad at me."

Casey smiled as he rested his chin on the top of her head. "I don't like the idea that you're old enough to have this conversation with." He put his hands on her shoulders to look at her. "I guess I'm just always going to think of you as that little girl that needed me for everything."

"I'm always going to need you." Grace smiled. "Even if that means having awkward sex talks."

"Just promise me you'll be safe and smart."

Grace smiled and nodded. "I promise."

"Then we won't have a problem." Casey sighed. "Sixteen, huh? Where has the time gone."


End file.
